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THE  LINCOLN  TETRALOGY 

BY 

DENTON  J.  SNIDER. 

A  national  epos  in  four  separate  poems  cor 
responding  to  the  chief  epochs  of  Lincoln's 
career,  and  setting  forth  especially  his  inner  life 
and  its  transformations  along  with  the  outer 
events  of  his  time. 

I.  LINCOLN  IN  THE  BLACK  HAWK  WAR. 
The  first  pivotal  episode  in  Lin 
coln's  evolution,  written  in  free 
rhymed  tetrameters $1.50 

II.  LINCOLN  AND  ANN  RUTLEDGE.  The 
love  idyl  of  Lincoln's  life,  written 
in  hexameters 1.50 

III.  LINCOLN  IN  THE  WHITE  HOUSE.    Lin 

coln's  development  through  inner 
and  outer  conflict  to  his  national 
greatness — blank  verse  and  prose  1.50 

IV.  LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND,  portraying  his 

last  days  of  triumph  and  tragedy 

1.50 


LINCOLN 


AT 


RICHMOND 


A  Dramatic  Epos  of  the  Civil  War 


BY.< 
DENTON   J.  SNIDER 


ST.  LOUIS,  MO. 

SIGMA  PUBLISHING  CO. 

210  PINE  ST. 


' 


Copyright  1914 
BY  DENTON  J.  SNIDER 


Nixon-Jones  Printing  Co. 
SIS  Pine  Street,  St.  Louis 


LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


Page 

Prologue       5 

PART  FIRST 
Lincoln  at  the  Crossing 

I.  The  Last  See  Saw 19 

II.  Lincoln  and  Grant 36 

III.  Lincoln's  Monologue 43 

IV.  Grant's  Monologue 53 

V.  Lincoln  and  Lamon 55 

V 

'VI.  Grant,  Sherman,  and  Sheridan   ...  65 

VII.  The  Triumph  of  Personality  ....  78 

VIII.  Lincoln  in  the  Saddle 89 

IX.  The  Place  of  Suffering 100 

X.  Reminiscent Ill 

XI.  Resurgam 123 

XII.  Crossing  the  Fatal  Line 131 

XIII.  Ramble  through  Petersburg  ....  140 

XIV.  Lincoln  and  the  Soldier 147 

XV.  The  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace    ....  155 

(3) 


Ml 77943 


TABLE  OP  CONTENTS. 


PART  SECOND 
The  Fall  of  Richmond 

Page 

Prologue 171 

I.  Up  the  James 177 

II.  Under  Doom 188 

III.  The  Doom 196 

IV.  The  Doom  Lifting 203 

V.  The  Doom  Undoomed 212 

PART  THIRD 
Lincoln's  Richmond 

Page 

Prologue 217 

I.  Lincoln's  New  Office 225 

II.  The  Masque  of  Harmonies      ....  236 

III.  The  African  Jubilee 252 

IV.  The  Black  Crook 263 

V.  Virginia 271 

VI.  The  Spectacle  of  the  Genii     ....  284 

VII.  Robert  Anderson's  Visit 297 

VIII.  The  Ring  of  Unf  ate 307 

IX.  The  Spectral  Duel 314 

X.  At  the  Richmond  Hospital      ....  328 

XI.  The  Two  Hates 343 

XII.  The  Last  Pageant 352 

Historic  Intimations 374 

(4) 


LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND. 


PROLOGUE. 

Look  ye  at  Abraham  Lincoln  now  afloat 

Upon  the  little  craft  caller  River  Queen, 

"Whose  keel  runs  kissing  the  Potomac 's  ripples 

For  miles  and  miles  in  tender  undertone 

Attuned  to  the  bright  joys  of  loving  Spring, 

Which  thrill  his  spouse,  the  Earth,  to  glad  creation 

After  the  winter's  barren  godlessness. 

On  either  side  of  the  enraptured  boat 

The  lounging  banks  stretch  out  sunning  themselves 

In  overflow  of  vernal  ecstacy 

That  breathes  the  season 's  subtle  harmonies 

Of  greening  fields  and  open-hearted  hills 

Bedight  with  peeping  eyelets  flowery, 

And  the  fleet  play  of  Nature's  iridescence. 

(5) 

422958 


6  LINCOLN   AT   RICHMOND. 

Lincoln  on  deck  upright  is  glancing  back 
The  lifted  mood  of  the  season's  buoyancy, 
Which  seems  a  foreplay  of  his  life's  own  goal 
Still  hid  behind  his  long  expectancy, 
But  throbbing  now  to  be  born  into  fact ; 
And  with  him  there  has  come  another  self 
Yet  too  his  own  at  being's  primal  fount: 
The  Presence  regnant  in  his  upper  realm, 
But  fusing  with  his  personality 
To  guide  the  boat  up  to  the  wharf  at  Richmond, 
Where  rounds  the  circle  of  his  whole  career 
Whose  term  is  epilogued  of  tragedy. 

But  now  the  President  hath  tuned  himself 
To  harmony  with  Nature 's  overture, 
As  she  intones  her  freedom's  risen  soul 
From  Winter's  icy  chains  of  servitude, 
To  hymn  a  race 's  new  enfranchisement. 
He  feels  his  own  a  resurrected  world, 
With  that  of  Earth  relborn  to  fresh  green  life, 
Out  of  the  deepest  frozen  Hell  of  Fate 
Into  whose  pit  he  has  for  years  been  damned 
To  wander  with  his  people  for  their  sins, 
Like  melancholy  spirits  of  the  lost. 

Another  image  fleeting  fitfully 

Oft  hovers  in  his  sight  upon  this  trip : 

'Tis  that  of  Douglas  at  their  interview 


PROLOG UE 

Held  in  the  White-House  on  the  day  of  Sumter, 

Which  was  the  starting-point  of  the  great  War 

Now  rounding  out  itself  into  its  end, 

So  that  the  semblance  seemed  to  have  the  power 

To  interlink  the  time 's  first  act  and  last 

Into  one  cycle  whole  of  History. 

The  shadowy  shape  revealed  another  gift : 

It  minded  Lincoln  of  their  common  fate 

Anew  forecast  in  his  deep  soul  of  presage, 

For  Douglas  had  preluded  in  his  death 

The  coming  of  the  mighty  tragedy, 

While  Lincoln  still  alive  had  oft  forefelt 

And  now  forefeels  himself  its  mortal  close, 

The  greatest  day  for  both  is  day  of  doom, 

But  for  the  Nation  is  the  life  new-born. 


LINCOLN   AT    RICHMOND. 


BACKLOOK. 

While  Lincoln  stood  with  upturned  gaze  ahead, 
His  whirling  thought  had  circled  him  aback 
To  that  world-pregnant  moment  which  begins 
His  fraught  quadrennium  of  Presidency, 
Bearing  the  node  historic  of  the  ages ; 
Then  started  he  to  query  his  career : 
"Four  years  agone  upon  an  April  day 
Not  very  different  from  this  in  balm, 
I  dared  to  issue  my  first  Proclamation 
In  answer  to  the  mad  assault  on  Sumter; 
At  once  the  Nation  kindled  to  a  blaze 
Which  rages  still  along  two  battle  fronts 
Eyeing  each  other  for  the  deadly  bite 
Here  in  the  East  between  the  Capitals, 
Which  lie  on  the  Potomac  and  the  James. 
That  Fatal  Line  atwixt  the  armies  twain 
I  feel  ingrown  with  my  last  destiny ; 
But  I  must  now  expunge  it  from  this  land 
Though  with  its  life  I  shall  yield  up  my  own, 
So  deeply  intertwined  have  run  our  days 
That  we  together  shall  be  coffined  quite 
In  that  same  moment  of  devouring  time." 

Hit  by  the  arrowed  sting  of  his  own  thought 
He  leaped  forth  to  his  self  -recovery : 


PROLOGUE— BACKLOOK.  9 

"But  why  should  I  turn  weeping- willow  thus 
To  droop  the  sparkle  of  my  leaves  to  earth, 
Putting  the  sunshine  in  a  gloom  for  me, 
As  I  look  upward  at  my  tragedy? 
Let  me  recall  how  changed  is  this  salute 
Which  the  blue  eye  of  yon  round  Ocean  rolls 
At  me  in  friendly  hospitality: 
So  different  from  the  time  when  through  these  waters 
I  took  the  passage  to  McClellan's  lines 
Which  had  turned  back  from  the  high  enterprise 
Whose  drop  made  the  whole  Nation  sag  in  doubt. 
Then  crashed  down  on  my  craft  the  maddened  storm 
Of  wave  and  wind  from  an  envenomed  Heaven, 
The  stalwart  vessel  plunged  into  the  seas, 
Sank  overflowed  yet  rose  again  to  sight, 
While  every  timber  cracked  and  mortise  groaned 
Responsive  to  the  tempest's  scoffing  howl, 
As  if  the  demons  sported  with  my  dole 
Drenching  me  with  their  spray  mid  jeering  whiffs, 
And  whirling  me  ten  thousand  cynic  laughs 
When  my  good  hat,   just  bought,   washed   over 
board." 

Thus  Lincoln  looking  backward  funned  a  smile 
Which  soon  stole  down  into  his  heart  of  sighs, 
Bubbling  to  words  as  he  bethought  the  time : 
"But  fiercer  shrilled  the  storm  within  my  soul 
Than  all  that  oceanic  roar  outside ; 
The  stricken  State  dropped  sinking  under  me 


10  LINCOLN   AT   RICHMOND. 

Which  I  was  helming  to  its  goal  of  hope ; 

Our  army  had  recoiled  from  Bichmond's  walls 

And  beaten  lay  within  its  sullen  tents, 

The  Fatal  Line  which  severed  the  whole  Nation 

I  found  more  deeply  graved  and  bloodily, 

Than  ever  I  had  seen  its  chasm  before. 

But  what  was  worse,  it  seemed  to  be 

Within  the  very  heart  of  all  that  host 

Whose  leader  showed  it  stamped  upon  his  speech 

As  well  as  everywhere  upon  his  deeds. 

That  meant  to  me  this  Union  is  atwain, 

Its  rift  impassable  outside  and  in, 

The  Lord  Himself  turns  rebel  to  the  right — 

But  stop !  why  stir  to  flames  the  Hell  that's  past, 

The  present  one  is  hot  enough,  God  knows ; 

Down  baleful  reminiscence  to  the  pit! 

I  must  bethink  me  of  new  strategy, 

With  which  to  countervail  the  thrusting  hour 

Which  now  comes  tolling  portents  o  'er  this  way, 

Presaging  to  my  soul  a  bodement  fresh — 

The  menace  of  success,  not  of  defeat, 

For  victory  has  too  its  devil  sconced, 

Whom  I  must  exorcise  in  God's  good  name." 


PROLOGUE— FORELOOK. 


FORELOOK. 

Thus  Lincoln  turned  to  ruminate  his  task, 
The  deepest,  subtlest,  and  the  secretest, 
Which  he  dared  whisper  only  to  himself 
In  moments  of  his  soul's  last  intimacy. 
Why  did  he  take  this  trip  down  to  the  James? 
An  outing  pleasant  for  a  tense-wrought  man 
Who  needed  to  unbend  his  four  years'  tension 
A  week  or  so  of  tuneful  holidays, 
And  see  his  soldier  boys  now  triumphing : 
Such  was  the  public  reason  read  in  print. 
Then  he  would  shun  the  office-seekers'  horde 
Which  were  alighting  like  a  locusts'  storm 
Upon  the  White-House,  still  to  be  his  home, 
Leased  him  four  years  longer  by  the  people ; 
So  he  ran  off  awhile  from  Washington: 
Such  were  some  outer  reasons  for  his  journey. 
But  the  chief  urge  driving  him  thitherward 
Was  the  anxiety  he  had  kept  wordless, 
But  which  was  nagging  him  with  increased  worry, 
Until  he  had  to  start  that  he  be  there 
Where  he  foresaw  might  break  forth  suddenly 
The  final  crisis  of  the  long-fought  war, 
Whose  bayonets  must  yield  to  civil  power 
Which  he  should  represent  supremely  throned. 


12  LINCOLN    AT    RICHMOND. 

Thus  he  began  to  word  unvoiced  his  mind, 

And  cite  before  himself  his  hid  misgivings: 

' '  Success  has  wreathed  at  last  our  Generals, 

But  with  the  triumph  comes  the  problem  new ! 

The  trinity  of  chiefs  victorious 

Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan,  the  war's  elect 

Have  now  been  purged  in  the  fierce  fire  of  war 

Until  they  rise  up  pedestaled  aloft, 

Acclaimed  by  all  the  people  witnessing 

Their  martial  deeds  of  supereminence. 

That  gives  me  too  the  joy  of  victory, 

"Which  titillates  me  every  drop  of  blood. 

Still  I  must  haste  to  scan  the  gloried  three, 

For  I  would  read  Grant's  silence  in  its  depths, 

Winnow  the  talk  of  Sherman's  fluent  tongue, 

And  mark  how  trends  the  dash  of  Sheridan. 

All  three  are  now  converging  to  one  point 

Though  hitherto  so  widely  separate — 

That  point  is  Richmond,  the  proud  Capital, 

Where  still  rebellion  has  authority 

And  holds  within  itself  its  greatest  men. 

The  three  will  meet  perchance  at  Grant's  big  tent, 

I  must  be  there  with  my  supremacy 

To  overgeneral  my  Generals 

To  whom  it  may  be  well  enough  to  show 

Law's  majesty  in  presence  of  their  council. 

I  know  I  have  their  love,  they  would  do  nought 

With  purposed  will  to  violate  the  law, 


PROLOGUE— FORELOOK.  13 

And  yet  I  have  to  guard  against  the  spirit 

Which  grows,  to  them  unconscious,  with  their  work, 

The  slow  deposit  of  the  soldier's  calling 

Which  may  imperil  freedom  to  our  State. 

How  should  I  dare  forget  that  early  strife 

Which  often  made  me  hopeless  of  my  task, 

When  my  first  Generals — one  in  the  East, 

One  in  the  West — McClellan  and  Fremont 

Would  breach  the  claim  of  civil  sovereignty ! 

That  double-dragon  fight  still  makes  me  shiver 

As  the  infernal  time  of  my  whole  life 

When  its  demonic  jaws  kept  snapping  at  my  office. 

Both  military  men  defied  my  rule 

They  had  no  love  for  me  nor  for  the  law, 

And  would  themselves  seize  my  authority. 

That  was  the  hardest  lesson  of  my  school, 

And  yet  perchance  most  needful  to  me  now, 

To  learn  the  soldier 's  basic  consciousness, 

Which  dwells  beneath  his  self 's  own  cognizance, 

Deeper  and  even  other  than  his  Will. 

But  both  were  failures  at  the  height  supernal, 

They  lacked  success  in  war's  initiative, 

So  they  could  never  win  dictatorship, 

Which  still  would  hover  o'er  me  menacing. 

But  now  the  turn  is  just  the  opposite : 

Good  fortune  woos  my  greatest  Generals 

And  makes  them  heroes  to  their  soldiery 

And  to  the  people  eager  to  admire. 


14  LINCOLN    AT   RICHMOND. 

So  the  successful  leader  in  his  turn 

Gives  me  to  weigh  his  possibilities 

And  take  the  forecast  of  their  flowering. 

Now  I  have  come  to  tend  the  war's  last  turn 

And  test  a  battle  of  my  strategy 

Upon  the  strategists  of  this  campaign, 

Lest  they  break  out  of  their  profession's  field, 

And  wound,  unwitting  of  offense,  the  State, 

For  whose  integrity  they  stake  their  lives. 

So  when  the  last  but  hardest  knot  of  all 

In  that  long  Fatal  Line  is  cut  atwain, 

I  must  be  there  to  enter  the  fresh  breach, 

And  seal  the  crossing  of  it  with  my  deed. ' ' 

Thus  Lincoln  told  the  secret  of  himself 
Unto  himself  and  kept  it  all  untold 
To  any  confidant  but  his  own  soul, 
"Whose  larger  mystery  down  underneath 
He  is  now  deeply  led  to  peer  upon, 
Devoting  to  self 's  shrine  a  pilgrimage 
In  quest  of  his  own  being's  Fount  of  Birth. 


PROLOGUE— INLOOK.  15 


INLOOK. 

Alone  'he  searched  the  bottom  of  his  heart, 
And  through  dark  corridors  of  inner  life 
He  wandered  with  his  lamp  of  consciousness, 
Turning  its  light  into  his  depths  of  selfhood. 
He  seemed  to  feel  the  first  genetic  throb 
Which  hinted  him  of  his  whole  destiny, 
And  made  him  share  all  human  origin 
Stirring  in  him  the  universal  man 
At  his  prime  push  into  creation's  bourne. 
Sole  he  was  seated  on  the  moonlit  deck 
Peering  out  seaward  toward  the  Infinite 
Whereat  each  phosphorescent  ripple  seemed 
To  flash  its  little  star  of  brief  existence 
As  'twere  a  sudden  spark  of  Ocean's  soul 
Shot  to  a  gleam  in  its  evanishment, 
Snapping  a  twinkle  of  all  life  and  death: 
"Such  too  am  I,  this  individual," 
Mused  Lincoln  to  the  tune  of  Nature 's  mood, 
"A  sparkle  on  the  bosom  of  the  All, 
A  wee  scintilla  of  the  sea  of  being — 
Why  was  I  ever  separated  from  it, 
And  shaped  into  my  single  human  dot 
To  flash  one  moment  of  this  self  of  mine 
And  then  go  out,  extinguished  in  Eternity  ? ' ' 


16  LINCOLN   AT   RICHMOND. 

"While  yet  he  asked,  he  knew  a  Presence  there 

Unseen,  untouched  by  any  outward  sense, 

But  breathing  a  still  message  in  his  soul 

At  its  first  gush  from  the  one  Self  of  Selves 

Into  man's  individuality. 

That  Presence  had  the  power  like  to  God 's 

To  put  its  impress  on  our  mortal  speech, 

Though  this  might  stay  unspoken  to  the  ear, 

Forging  its  words  directly  at  their  mint : 

' '  Thine  is  it  to  re-spin  thy  thread  of  life 

"Which  brought  thee  hither  from  the  primal  source 

Forever  re-creating  thy  creation, 

Securing  thus  thine  immortality. 

Canst  thou  be  second  parent  to  thyself, 

The  other  uppermost  progenitor 

Begetting  thee  begotton  son  of  God 

Who  is  none  other  than  thy  new-born  Self? 

The  fate  of  Nature  then  thou  shalt  unf ate 

Originating  thine  own  origin 

"Whereof  Time  is  itself  but  one  odd  moment. 

Till  thou  art  father  to  thyself  re-made 

Thou  hast  not  won  thy  deathless  liberty, 

And  overcome  thy  being's  boundary, 

Like  the  Creator  of  the  Universe 

Who  is  but  the  one  round  of  self-creation. ' ' 

Lincoln  was  dazed  by  the  outstretch  of  thought 
Which  him  upbore  from  sources  nethermost 
Straining  the  bound  of  all  intelligence. 


PROLOGUE— INLOOK.  17 

And  yet  far  down  he  heard  the  Yes  of  God, 

In  depths  of  mind  below  his  cognizance, 

So  that  he  gave  an  answer  half  in  trance 

Unto  that  Presence  telling  of  creation : 

1  'Fathering  myself  I  am  the  rightful  son 

Not  of  Tom  Lincoln,  but  of  God  the  Father ; 

I  must  re-bear  my  birth  not  only  now 

But  all  my  forbears  hitherto  in  time 

Repeating  my  ancestral  genesis 

Back, to  its  outburst  from  the  All-in- All, 

Else  I  am  not  mine  own  completed  Self, 

But  some  decaying  morsel  of  me  whole, 

Scintillant  of  my  slight  mortality. 

I  shall  take  up  my  race's  life  in  mine, 

Abbreviate  in  me  humanity, 

The  People 's  dateless  representative, 

The  incarnation  of  all  ages'  folk. 

And  mine  own  days  from  youth  I  must  re-live, 

Repeating  ever  fresh  my  genesis 

At  every  stressful  node  of  Life 's  encounter. ' ' 

Lincoln  leaped  startled  from  his  revery 

Over  the  two  abysses  of  his  being, 

Tthe  backward  and  the  forward  counterstroke 

Which  cycled  him  to  ceaseless  resurrection, 

The  rounding  endless  of  his  very  Self. 

The  boat  was  turning  the  bent  promontory 
Which  curves  the  sea  into  the  river  James, 


18  LINCOLN    AT    RICHMOND. 

Whose  shores  begin  to  show  themselves  as  double 

In  the  horizon's  distance  dimly  limned. 

Along  this  passage  sailed  the  colonists 

Who  founded  the  first  State  Virginia 

Starting  the  list  of  blooming  Commonwealths 

Now  in  the  agony  of  mutual  war  — 

And  also  starting  here  the  little  rift 

Which  with  the  years  has  grown  the  Fatal  Line, 

Whose  germ  lay  in  that  first  shipload  of  blacks 

Brought  up  this  channel  where  we  see 

Lincoln  now  sailing  to  undo  the  deed, 

The  heirloom  of  two  centuries  and  more. 

This  stream  winds  also  the  chief  path 

Which  led  the  Cavalier  to  his  new  world ; 

The  Puritan,  his  foe,  soon  after  came 

Into  like  continental  heritage, 

And  settled  on  the  bleak  New  England  hills. 

Behold !  they  have  down  here  renewed  the  fight 

Transporting  their  old  feud  from  English  strife, 

Both  have  to  be  made  over  by  our  West 

Which  has  to  solve  the  dissonances  harsh 

Borne  hither  from  aged  Europe's  polities. 

But  Lincoln  now  droops  down  to  slumber's  dreams, 

Soothed  to  a  sense  of  resurrected  life, 

While  still  alive,  but  likewise  played  upon 

By  presages  of  big  futurity. 


fart  fmt. 

Lincoln  at  the  Crossing. 
I. 

The  Last  See-Saw. 

Boom!  Boom!  Boom! 

Rumbling  out  the  distant  dawn 

There  rolls  a  deep-voiced  growl 

Low  but  savage, 

As  of  some  monster  waking  for  its  prey 

At  early  twilight  glinting  morn. 

Hark !  the  bellow  of  angry  cannonry ! 

The  heralds  of  battle  now  proclaim 

From  red-tongued  mouths  of  hissing  flames 

The  quest  of  their  mortal  breakfast. 

Lincoln  lay  sleeping  on  his  cot  unruly 

Berthed  aboard  the  petty  plodding  steamer, 

Fondled  with  Aurora 's  kisses 

Which  silvered  o'er  his  craggy  features 

(19) 


20        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

And  smoothed  down  their  care-hollowed  gullies 

To  a  moment  of  Heaven 's  serenity. 

The  roll  of  sounds  soon  played  on  his  ear-drum 

Reverberant  in  response, 

Not  waking  him  up,  but  starting  throbs 

Which  chimed  his  long-harried  soul 

To  a  dream  of  what  lay  seething  in  it 

With  elemental  ardors. 

Out  of  that  formless  furious  noise 

There  reared  an  image  terrible, 

Whose  outline  he  had  gloomily  glimpsed 

In  fits  of  fantasy  rampant 

When  he  could  vision  the  fact  supreme 

As  it  lay  in  the  universal  Mind. 

See  the  monster  upheave  its  head — 

A  huge  serpent  curving  between  two  armies ; 

The  living  cylinder  coils  up 

In  rings  its  lissom  frame, 

Ready  to  snap  its  bloody  jaws, 

Or  to  dart  its  venomous  forked  tongue, 

Or  even  to  curl  back  over  its  body 

With  the  thrust  of  its  scorpion  tail, 

And  sting  in  stabs  of  poison. 

Take  care,  0  Lincoln ! 

Its  fiery  eye-balls  gleam  on  thee 

Shooting  their  baleful  lightnings! 

Keep  watch !  its  body  lithe  is  its  lasso, 

Whose  spiraled  noose  it  may  twirl  over  thy  head 


THE  LAST  SEE-SAW.  21 

Swathing  around  thy  frame 
Its  reptilian  hug  of  death. 

Boom!  Boom!  Boom! 

Louder,  nearer,  angrier, 

Dash  the  waves  of  smiting  detonation 

From  gory  belches  of  pitiless  gunnery 

Shooting  fiery  words  in  fleet  Aurora's  face 

And  torching  the  round  horizon  to  a  blaze 

Till  Heaven's  dome  turned  Hell's  flare 

With  the  pit  inverted. 

And  now  was  heard  between  volcanic  crashes 

Of  mighty  artillery 

The  snarling  chit-chat  multitudinous 

Of  gossipy  musketry 

Yet  malicious  as  winged  imps 

"With  their  insidious  pellets  of  lead 

Singing  many  a  soldier  his  last  lullaby 

To  the  sleep  of  the  grave, 

And  whistling  his  requiem. 

But  listen  again,  my  Lincoln ! 

The  mouthing  cannon  spell  out  thy  name, 

Syllable  it  on  the  yielding  air 

In  thunderous  repercussion, 

Voicing  with  their  hurling  emphasis 

A  menace  of  dread  to  thee, 

For  hark  the  cannon-balls  howling: 

'  *  Thou  art  the  one  I  seek,  just  the  one ! 


22       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

I  am  approaching  now  to  envelop  thee 

In  a  hurrying  hailstorm  of  missiles  mortal, 

One  of  which  shall  find  thy  heart." 

But  Lincoln  laughed  in  his  dream, 

As  if  he  had  Destiny's  pledge: 

"Not  here,  not  here! 

Not  by  your  bullet  in  my  brain ! 

My  time  is  not  yet  come, 

E'en  if  I  be  near  the  Crossing." 

But  mark  another  miracle  sudden, 

Happing  in  hideous  harmony : 

The  serpent  upthrust  its  great  flat  head 

And  over  held  him  agape  its  reddening  gullet, 

Shooting  in  chorus  with  the  gunnery 

Its  snaky  hisses  into  words : 

' '  I  have  now  come  to  throttle  thee, 

Long  thy  arrival  I  have  awaited, 

I  know  thee  for  my  mortal  enemy 

Eager  to  break  me  joint  by  joint 

And  to  cross  my  severed  body 

At  its  last  chief  node  just  here. 

One  or  the  other  of  us  is  now  to  die, 

Or  both  of  us— I  defy  thee." 

But  Lincoln  awoke  not, 

Though  writhing  uneasily  in  his  sweat, 

And  still  clutched  tight  by  his  furious  dream 

Which  would  not  let  him  raise  his  eyelids 


THE  LA8T  SEE-SAW.  23 

To  see  the  monster  in  outer  light, 

Being  the  creature  of  his  deepest  self, 

Born  of  the  very  crisis  of  his  soul- world ; 

Wearily  he  had  been  watching  for  years, 

Perched  on  his  tottering  tower  of  Hope 

To  witness  those  serpentine  coils 

As  they  would  catch  up  and  crush 

Vast  masses  of  soldiery  battling, 

Both  of  the  blue  and  the  gray, 

Fateful  to  the  one  or  the  other 

If  either  should  try  to  cross  it — the  Crossing; 

But  Lincoln  himself  has  come  to  the  Crossing. 

Again  the  portent  reared  up  whizzing  its  speech 

Whose  snaky  sibilants  shot  in  jets 

From  its  slit  tongue  of  vibrating  hisses : 

"Four  years  you  have  stood  up  the  armed  Will 

Against  me,  seeking  my  vital  part, 

Now  I  aim  at  you; 

I  yet  shall  hug  your  windpipe  noosed  in  my  folds, 

Constringing  it  to  strangulation. ' ' 

Whereat  the  mighty  worm 

Flung  one  of  its  rings  over  Lincoln's  head 

To  lasso  him  on  its  grisly  gallows ; 

But  he  deftly  slipped  the  scaly  noose, 

And  leaped  to  his  fence,  ready  to  give 

The  final  blow  to  the  Satan  of  the  Union. 

So  Lincoln  had  a  new  dragon-fight 

With  the  monstered  shape  born  of  the  War, 


24        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

The  damned  Apollyon  of  Secession. 
Still  the  serpent  coiled  up  desperate 
Between  the  two  contending  hosts, 
It  would  not  flee,  could  not  be  killed, 
Fixed  as  the  Fate  over  both, 
Devouring  all  who  dared  too  near 
Its  Hell  double-dealing  on  either  side. 
Soon  it  lay  down  aligned  quite  as  before, 
While  its  eye-shot  fell  earthward  spent ; 
Still  the  dream-god  kept  lullabying  Lincoln, 
And  would  not  turn  his  shut  senses  loose 
Into  the  open  world. 

Boom !  Boom !  Boom ! 

The  crash  now  doubled  of  both  artilleries 

Along  two  fire-lines,  facing  each  other 

In  sulphurous  Pandemonium, 

And  startled  a  tremble  over  the  brooding  air 

Wherewith  mingled  in  medley  infernal 

The  victorious  shout  shrilled  through  with  groans 

Of  those  who  crumpled  down  wounded  and  dying. 

But  see  again  the  serpentine  dream, 

How  it  begins  to  rear  and  roll 

Out  of  its  brief  quiescence 

The  many  wheeled  folds  concentric, 

Wreathing  all  its  sinuous  multiplicity 

For  a  fresh  cycled  whirl  of  its  stringent  coils 

Over  its  victim — 


THE  LAST  SEE-SAW.  25 

Like  primeval  megalosaurian, 

Portentous  progeny  got  of  the  Earth-mother 

In  her  dark  diabolic  wrestle 

With  hoarest  Chaos. 

But  mark  its  new  sudden  turn  from  Lincoln 

Firmly  planting  himself  for  his  dare 

To  clutch  it  tight  by  its  scaled  gorge 

In  his  strong  bony  fists 

And  test  the  mutual  throttle ! 

Oh  see  its  many  mottled  wheels — 

How  it  writhes  convolutions  backward 

"Whirling  around  to  the  other  side, 

As  if  for  a  different  combat ! 

What  fresh  appearance  is  thence  coming? 

Behold  a  new  figure  f antasmal ! 

A  woman  dawns  out  of  the  battle's  smoke 

Gigantic  in  full  armor, 

Like  Pallas  uprist  in  panoply  Godlike 

Standing  high  on  Acropolis  hill  far  visible. 

Her  features  Lincoln  well  recognized 

Even  in  their  dazzling  magnitude, 

For  he  had  visioned  her  twice  before 

Quite  in  the  normal  human  size,  yet  ghostly, 

At  the  White-House  in  Washington, 

When  she,  the  wrathful  specter,  bade  him  revoke 

His  two  great  Proclamations 

Affirming  Nationality  first 

And  then  Emancipation. 


26       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

But  look  again !  the  spectacle ! 

The  prodigious  snake  of  destiny 

With  venom-lightening  glances 

Turns  round  to  front  in  a  fight  that  semblance 

Seeking  to  do  to  her  the  same  deed 

It  had  dared  against  Lincoln ; — 

Drawing  up  its  full  length  to  coil  on  coil, 

To  wrap  her  body  in  its  convolving  folds 

It  darts  out  to  loup  her  neck 

In  a  winding  sheet  of  bandages. 

But  the  lofty  athletic  Amazon 

Wrenches  the  flaky  noose  of  the  hellish  reptile 

With  the  clutch  of  last  despair 

Contorting  her  fair  features, 

And  she  thrust  it  upward  over  her  head, 

With  bulging  brawn  of  arm  and  thigh, 

Eesembling  statued  Laocoon  of  old 

In  his  tense  outreach  of  resistance 

Straining  against  his  hapless  destiny, 

As  he  wrestled  with  God-sent  monsters 

In  cosmic  agony 

Reproaching  the  Gods. 

Lincoln  stood  looking  a  world 's  compassion 
Up  at  that  mighty  sufferer  writhing, 
Since  he  had  been  compelled  for  years 
To  wrestle  with  that  self -same  horror : 
So  he  cried  out  in  deepest  sympathy ; 


THE  LAST  SEE-SAW.  27 

" Repent,  Virginia!" 

Then  faced  the  lofty  visage  from  its  perch 

Down  upon  Lincoln's  gracious  pity 

With  recognition's  melted  eyes 

Him  bespeaking  in  tone  of  painful  prayer : 

' '  The  Fatal  Line  which  first  I  saw  when  with  thee 

Drawn  against  me  once  in  the  White-House 

By  a  supernal  Presence, 

Then  trenched  deeply  so  often  on  my  soil 

And  overflowing  with  freshets  of  gore, 

Has  now  turned  to  the  vengeful  fiend 

Which  whisks  about  me  and  crushes  my  people 

In  its  demoniac  folds. ' ' 

Whereat  with  a  fierce  convulsive  wrench 

Of  her  superhuman  organism 

She  made  ready  to  meet  a  larger  attack : 

When  Lincoln  again  besought  her  to  hearken 

The  way  of  hope,  proclaiming : 

"Repent,  Virginia, 

And  then  we  both  shall  slay  the  dragon 

Now  holding  our  hearts  asunder, 

And  bury  its  horrid  corpse  forever." 

The  mountainous  apparition 

Drooped  her  stressful  limbs  and  looks, 

Letting  her  words  wax  low  to  voice  unstrung : 

0  victor,  often  thou  hast  lost  to  me, 

But  of  defeat  thou  art  the  defeater. 

Thine  is  the  most  colossal  struggle 


28       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

With,  failure  our  mortality  ever  knew, 
And  yet  thou  hast  won — I  confess  it — 
Made  failure  fail, 
Thou  hast  undoomed  Doom  itself, 
And  undeviled  the  Devil  in  Hell. ' ' 
At  this  the  towering  semblance 
Uprose  again  to  her  loftiest  stature, 
And  lifting  her  tense  huge  countenance 
She  screamed  her  uttermost  paroxysm 
Born  of  the  torture  of  last  despair 
Undoing  itself: 
"Fate  thou  mayst  coerce — 
And  me." 

The  stabbing  shriek  of  woman's  voice 

Uttering  Destiny's  words  he  had  heard  before 

From  her  passions 's  wildest  ecstasy, 

But  now  madly  whirled  to  import  opposite, 

Daggered  Lincoln  into  his  heart, 

And  cut  the  fetters  adamantine 

In  which  the  tyrant  sleep  had  bound  him. 

Therewith  his  dread  dream  $ped  off  at  once 

Into  the  rude  reality, 

For  he  awaking  still  heard  the  cannon 's  big  boom 

'Mid  rainy  rattle  of  musketry, 

Quite  as  they  shot  through  his  vision, 

Undertoning  the  deeds  and  the  words 

Hissed  from  the  prodigious  Reptile. 


THE  LAST  SEE-SAW.  29 

Lincoln  was  dazed  at  the  shift  so  fleet 

From  dream  to  fact,  exclaiming 

"Are  my  light-eyes  open  now, 

And  not  my  inner  vision? 

Are  my  spooky  spectacles  on  still, 

Or  is  this  the  seen  world  again?" 

He  gave  one  high  spring  from  his  cot, 

And  rushed  upon  deck  for  Nature's  sight 

Hatless,  coatless,  bare  feet  in  shoes  unlaced, 

His  wire  hair  stiffened  more  than  ever, 

Shrilling  the  air  in  a  high-strung  note 

With  the  sybilline  interrogation : 

"Is  it  for  me?  or  I  for  it?" 

The  very  gunnery  seemed  to  answer : 

"You  I  want — you." 

Whereat  he  gathered  up  his  slunk  shape 

To  his  full  height  and  tension, 

And  shouted :   ' '  Nay,  never ! 

But  you  shall  be  mine. ' ' 

He  peered  off  Southward  up  to  the  clouds, 

Which  fluffed  into  dragonish  shapes 

Rising  from  burnt  gunpowder 's  murk 

As  if  signaling  a  new  Armageddon, 

Where  the  Fatal  Line  still  lay  outstretched 

Between  the  two  hosts  defiantly  gunning 

While  it  challenged  both  sides 

To  the  last  encounter. 

He  thought  he  beheld  the  skiey  reflex 


30        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Of  his  dream 's  hostile  portent 

Again  to  rear  and  writhe  and  coil 

Through  the  'Contortions  of  the  combat 

In  momentary  panorama, 

Then  to  vanish  away  to  the  hazy  void 

Which  rounded  the  world's  horizon. 

Now  he  looked  first  at  himself 

And  caught  sight  of  his  undress, 

He  darted  back  speedily  to  his  cabin 

Whence  he  soon  reappeared  presentable. 

The  captain  of  the  boat  and  its  crew 

Were  already  astir  to  lift  anchor 

If  need  be,  and  fall  down  stream 

Beyond  the  range  of  battle's  chance  missiles, 

Safeguarding  the  President. 

Soon  from  behind  the  bush 's  young  leafage 

An  orderly  spurred  galloping  thirtherward, 

With  urge  of  his  steed  to  the  topmost  leap 

Till  it  was  reined-in  at  the  shore, 

And  the  rider  sprang  down  at  the  plank 

To  cross  it  to  the  boat. 

"What  news,  my  lad?"  cried  Lincoln, 

Eager  to  know  the  solid  fact, 

Yet  also  to  verify  his  dream. 

' '  The  rebels  sneaked  on  our  picket  line, 

Attacked  Fort  Stedman  still  in  the  twilight ; 

They  hold  it  now,  through  a  cunning  ruse, 


THE  LAST  SEE-SAW.  31 

But  we  shall  settle  with  them  yet. ' ' 

So  piped  up  the  boyish  messenger, 

Sagging  in  word  and  act  himself 

To  the  battle's  teter  of  uncertainty, 

While  Lincoln's  visage  re-told  the  torture 

Responsive  to  his  tongue: 

1 1  Great  God !  'tis  another  bloody  see-saw 

Upon  the  Fatal  Line  of  North  and  South 

Which  the  spectral  Presence  once  gloomily  drew 

Between  myself  and  Dame  Virginia, 

When  both  of  us  stood  face  to  face 

In  mutual  dare  at  the  White-House, 

Glaring  athwart  the  red-lit  bound 

Which  then  kept  us  atwain  and  the  Nation  too, 

And  still  is  holding  us  sundered, 

Though  I  have  arrived  just  to  cross  it  here, 

And  to  stanch  the  ever-upgurgling  wound 

Of  the  whole  People  incorporate. 

And  this  is  my  reception ! 

Before  my  eyes  ghoulish  Fate  draws  again 

Its  grave-yard  line  of  demarcation, 

Repeated  an  hundred  hundred  fold 

Through  all  these  sanguinary  years. 

What  does  the  omen  mean  ?    Must  I  turn  back 

And  leave  the  Nation  rent  forever  ? ' ' 

Thus  Lincoln  oracled  his  destiny 
Once  more  in  secret  tribulation, 


32        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Aghast  at  his  crimsoned  quadrennium. 

The  blue-bloused  boy  trotted  off  upset 

By  something  he  did  not  understand, 

But  Lincoln's  heart  still  roared  in  repercussion 

Which  broke  out  into  wailful  words : 

"Alas!  it  tallies  with  my  combat's  dream 

Which  plagued  me  the  foreshow  of  the  coming  curse. 

It  haunts  me  now  like  the  serpent 

Which  is  this  Hell's  living  counterpart, 

Blackening  sleep  to  a  Stygian  gloom 

Which  chokes  my  peace  by  day  and  night 

Till  my  brain  turns  to  an  infernal  orgy 

Grimacing  demonic  imagery, 

And  my  bat-winged  soul-born  Melancholy 

Sucks  far  deeper  than  my  blood — 

It  drains  me  of  my  hope 

Down  to  the  dregs." 

So  smote  him  in  trip-hammering  back-stroke 

His  despair  down-crushing  all  uplift, 

Till  he  whirled  off  into  himself 

For  suffering  solitary, 

Seeking  to  keep  his  wrestle  lone 

In  his  infinite  sea  of  agony, 

The  living  exemplar  of  his  country's  pain. 

Then  from  his  sorrow's  perspiration 

He  looked  upward  as  if  for  help 

In  Gethsemane's  anguish. 


THE  LAST  SEE-SAW.  33 

See !  an  officer  smiling  approaches, 

With,  a  message  from  General  Grant 

To  report  the  battle's  outcome — 

His  eyes  twinkling  good  news : 

"We  have  repelled  the  cunning  assault, 

The  fortress  too  re-capturing, 

Driven  the  foe  aback  in  retreat, 

Beyond  his  former  ramparts  of  cannon 

Which  we  now  hold,  re-taking  ours 

And  some  of  his — not  all." 

"But  is  he  still  embattled  against  us?'7 

"He  is,  and  stubbornly  holds  his  ground." 

' '  And  why  not  fracture  that  line  so  fixed  ? 

Must  it  be  ever  restored  intact, 

Impassable  as  before  ? ' '  asked  Lincoln 

With  a  droop  in  his  voice  with  his  body. 

' '  That  is  now  the  dear  hope  of  our  army, ' ' 

Politely  bowed  the  officer, 

Giving  that  single  glimpse  of  his  own  heart 's  world 

Then  Shutting  it  off  into  silence, 

With  a  parting  salute  to  the  President, 

Who  slumped  down  piecemeal  into  his  chair, 

Thus  lipping  his  sorrow's  revery: 

"Again  before  me  reddens  my  vision 

Dipped  in  the  ensanguined  bound 

Unbroken  still,  renewed  to  wholeness! 

I  had  longed  to  cross  it  here  at  last 

Without  the  shedding  of  a  drop  of  blood. 


34       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

But  no !  Virginia  leading  the  South 

Grapples  afresh  our  blue-coated  cordon 

That  kept  tightening  around  her  Capital, 

And  with  a  frenzy  gushed  from  her  crisis 

To  save  the  Fatal  Line  of  division 

She  deepens  it  anew  on  this  spot 

Where  has  been  builded  her  final  bulwark, 

Which  I  had  hoped  to  pass  through  to-day 

On  peaceful  horseback; 

But  still  the  war's  red-cleft  boundary 

Is  re-affirmed  to  my  very  person 

And  is  flouted  before  me 

In  fresh  defiance. 

That  is  what  my  vanishing  gloom  revives 

And  wings  again  my  inner  Vampyre, 

To  be  my  soul-thirsty  demon 

Out  of  whose  secret  nagging  Hell 

I  had  dared  to  ween  me  escaping, 

Whereby  a  new  living  delight  streamed  o  'er  me. ' } 

Just  then  the  higher  Presence  of  himself 
Slid  into  the  air  and  stood  before  him 
With  its  impress  prophetic : 

II  Think  this  the  expiring  outward  kick 
Last  of  the  monstrous  megatherium, 
Whose  ancient  period  is  up ; 

It  will  assail  no  more, 

Though  still  fighting  at  bay  in  its  dying  defense. 


THE  LAST  SEE-8AW.  35 

Hearten  thee  now,  my  President, 

Thy  part  to  fulfil  in  this  conclusion, 

The  loftiest  yet  of  any  leader  of  men. ' ' 

Lincoln  pulled  up  his  lax  limbs,  pacing  the  deck 

In  overflow  fresh  of  his  black  mood, 

But  soon  he  was  risen  into  his  genius 

To  fend  off  the  deluge  of  gloom, 

And  spoke  the  forecast  born  of  his  upper  self : 

"Be  this  'the  last  see-saw  of  bloody  Fate 

Which  so  often  has  cross-cut  my  very  heart, 

Until  I  felt  it  ripped  in  twain ! 

Up!  separation  is  now  to  vanish, 

And  the  one  Nation  rises  re-born, 

I  shall  not  leave  here  before  the  fulfilment ; 

That  is  the  biddance  of  all  the  Powers 

And  Presences  sharing  their  Will  within  me; 

To  Washington  I  shall  not  return 

Till  asunder  yon  Fatal  Line  be  smitten 

At  its  last  joint  of  resistance 

And  I  be  borne  through  the  rift — 

But  here  comes  Grant/' 


II. 
Lincoln  and  Grant. 

Grant. 

Mr.  President,  welcome  to  my  headquarters  on 
the  James. 

Lincoln. 

I  am  keen  to  see  you,  General.  But  I  have  been 
already  saluted  in  right  military  style  by  the  enemy 
with  unexpected  shocks  of  courtesy.  Even  before 
I  was  awake,  I  heard  his  salvos  of  artillery  in  my 
honor,  I  suppose,  at  least  so  they  were  interpreted 
by  my  dream.  Then  the  festive  cannonade  was  an 
swered  by  our  own  side  with  even  louder  exuber 
ance.  So  you  have  baptized  me  already  with  fire. 

Grant. 

Let  me  say  that  the  battle  which  has  celebrated 
your  arrival  was  not  down  on  my  programme  of 

(36) 


LINCOLN  AND   GRANT.  37 

reception.     It  started  from  the  foe's  own  sense  of 
civility. 

Lincoln. 

Indeed!  The  Southron  has  always  taken  pride 
in  his  chivalry  toward  his  antagonist,  but  I  do  not 
feel  certain  that  this  is  a  right  sample.  At  any  rate 
its  reverberation  stirred  up  in  my  dream-life  a  hor 
rible  phantasm  with  which  I  had  a  personal  encoun 
ter,  whose  echoes  still  crawl  over  me  in  goose-flesh 
shudders.  General,  do  you  ever  have  a  vision  or  a 
presage  of  some  great  event  coming  on,  for  instance 
before  the  capture  of  Vicksburg? 

Grant. 

I  am  not  much  addicted  to  that  sort  of  thing. 
But  this  battle  is  over  for  the  present,  and  both 
sides  are  again  standing  face  to  face,  though  our 
front  is  considerably  advanced. 

Lincoln. 

Yes,  I  have  already  noticed  the  fact:  Another 
see-saw  greets  me  for  my  entertainment,  as  if  I 
needed  some  distraction  of  that  kind,  though  I  have 
seen  hardly  anything  else  along  this  Atlantic  coast 
for  four  years.  I  sometimes  think  that  in  such 
mutual  exercise  of  the  two  armies  I  am  the  saw-log 
ripped  in  twain  both  ways  by  the  Lord's  cross-cut 
saw. 


38       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Grant. 

We  have  all  been  disappointed,  the  enemy  even 
more  than  ourselves.  But  I  hope  and  believe  that 
this  attack  is  the  last  from  yonder  side.  We  are 
now  to  take  the  offensive. 

Lincoln. 

That  last  word  has  the  true  ring.  May  your  wish 
and  mine  be  fulfilled  speedily !  But  how  often  have 
I  been  cajoled  with  such  hopes  before!  Still  for 
ward  to  the  fresh  initiative  which  turns  not  back ! 

Grant. 

I  have  given  orders  already  for  the  advance.  So 
I  have  invited  you  to  witness  a  spectacle  in  which 
I  know  your  interest  to  be  keyed  up  to  its  highest 
pitch.  I  expect  to  break  through  the  enemy's  bat 
tle-line  in  the  next  few  days  here  at  Petersburg, 
and  the  breach,  I  think,  will  be  never  patched  up 
again.  You  can  march  with  me  across  it,  and  in 
deed  take  possession  of  it,  uniting  what  is  on  the 
other  side  of  it  with  what  is  on  this  side,  and  there 
by  ending  the  great  separation  which  has  so  long 
rifted  the  whole  land. 

Lincoln. 

That  is  what  I  have  come  down  to  see  and  to 
take  part  in  the  final  crossing  of  the  Fatal  Line 
(so  I  call  it  in  my  way  of  speech),  which  I  have 


LINCOLN  AND  GRANT.  39 

hitherto  so  often  willed  to  pass  with  the  help  of 
this  army,  alas!  to  no  purpose.  Why?  I  have 
often  challenged  Providence  for  an  answer.  What 
a  deluge  of  gory  memories  pours  down  upon  this 
little  stretch  of  territory!  Yonder  I  can  see  Har 
rison's  Landing,  where  I  paid  a  visit  to  McClellan 
and  his  soldiers  after  the  Seven  Days  Fight  some 
twenty  months  since.  I  then  beheld  that  Fatal 
Line  drawn  between  the  two  opposing  armies,  and 
channeled  as  if  it  ran  a  river  of  blood  from  which 
each  of  the  contestants  recoiled  after  many  furious 
charges  and  countercharges,  all  of  which  seemed 
only  to  swell  its  crimson  overflow  and  make  it 
deeper  and  more  impassable.  And  that  same  result 
I  witnessed  to-day  again.  Ever  since  the  first 
battle  of  Bull  Run  the  sanguinary  flood  has  kept 
surging  through  its  reeking  stream-bed  around  and 
between  the  two  Capitals,  Washington  and  Eich- 
mond.  0 !  General,  I  am  heart-sick,  coming  hither 
through  the  long  city  of  hospitals.  Can  you  not 
soon  put  an  end  to  this  reign  of  Moloch  gorgeing 
still  his  human  sacrifices  and  calling  for  more, 
more,  more — the  monster  insatiable? 

Grant. 

Calm  yourself,  Mr.  President ;  one  battle  more  at 
least,  a  hard  one  doubtless,  is  in  store  for  us ;  that 
I  hope  to  be  the  last.  You  are  aware  that  Sherman 
is  soon  to  be  here,  coming  from  North  Carolina  to 


40        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

consult  with  us  about  the  future."  You  will  also 
meet  Sheridan  who  has  developed  such  an  unusual 
aggressive  talent  for  fight  in  the  last  year.  I  can 
not  tell  you  how  glad  I  am  of  his  arrival  in  these 
parts.  I  am  in  sore  need  of  such  a  quick  and  hard 
striker  to  drive  dexterously  this  ponderous  sledge 
hammer  of  an  army. 

Lincoln. 

Pardon  that  outgush  of  my  heart,  which  got  the 
better  of  my  tongue.  I  know  that  we  have  to  fight 
on  till  the  end  which  at  present  seems  not  far  off. 
The  crown  of  my  journey  hither  is  to  cross  the 
dividing  boundary  yonder.  Till  that  be  done,  I 
cannot  return  to  Washington.  Eagerly  I  shall  lis 
ten  to  Sherman  whose  army  has  continued  to  march 
around  the  circle  of  victory  till  it  has  corralled  the 
whole  rebellion  except  this  recalcitrant  fleck  just 
here  before  us.  Of  course  you  were  the  one  who 
started  to  snare  the  monster  and  crush  him  in  that 
mighty  circuit  of  yours  down  the  Mississippi  io 
Vicksburg  and  thence  to  Chattanooga.  Sherman's 
western  soldiery,  I  suppose,  will  soon  be  marching 
to  this  valley  of  the  James,  and  thus  close  the  last 
gap  in  their  vast  triumphant  round.  They  have 
practically  broken  down  the  Fatal  Line  in  ten  of 
the  seceded  States;  now  they  are  to  help  us  give 
the  finishing  blow  to  it  here. 


LINCOLN  AND   GRANT.  41 

Grant. 

They  ought  not  <to  come  yet.  I  have  ordered 
them  to  stay  where  they  are  and  hold  Johnson  in 
check.  Indeed  my  judgment  is  that  the  Potomac 
army  can  now  do  this  piece  of  work  by  themselves ; 
they  should  be  permitted  to  test  their  new  mettle 
upon  it,  winning  a  great  positive  victory. 

Lincoln. 

Well,  'that  is  a  new  plan  of  which  I  have  not  been 
aware  before.  Such  was  not  the  design  some  days 
ago.  But  are  you  sure  you  can  fulfil  the  task 
with  them  alone  ?  Recollect  how  often  I  have  tried 
to  make  this  army  perform  just  the  act  you  speak 
of.  It  is  a  problem  which  has  wrenched  from  me 
more  thought  and  effort  and  anguish  than  all  the 
rest  of  the  war  combined.  I  confess  to  being  sensi 
tive  about  the  result.  Do  you  think  you  can  trans 
form  these  men,  though  of  the  bravest  in  death's 
defiance,  so  as  to  be  limit-breakers  ?  I  never  could, 
nor  their  Generals;  and  alas!  let  me  confess,  I 
never  won  this  army 's  love. 

Grant. 

Well  do  I  know  your  doubt  and  its  foundation 
in  long  and  bitter  experience.  But  my  mind  is 
made  up  unless  you  countermand  me.  Hark,  do 
you  hear  that  roll  of  distant  cannon? 


42       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Lincoln. 

Distinctly.  I  hope  it  means  that  the  end  is  be 
ginning  and  will  soon  be  at  hand  with  no  more 
bloodshed.  Here  comes  an  officer  riding  at  full 
gallop. 

Grant. 

It  is  my  adjutant  bearing  a  message.  I  must  be 
off  to  the  front.  But  I  would  request  that  you 
think  my  plan  over,  before  you  revoke  it  or  change 
its  main  purpose.  My  heart  is  set  upon  it.  I  be 
lieve  your  best  thought  will  approve  it  at  last.  Soon 
we  shall  see  each  other  again. 


III. 

Monologue. 

Lincoln. 

The  President  stood  puzzling  at  the  words 
So  counteractive  of  his  purposes — 
The  iron  words  of  his  first  General, 
"Whose  will  lie  felt  somehow  should  be  his  own ; 
And  so  he  sank  down  in  his  sea  of  thought, 
Groping  to  find  the  reason  underneath 
The  spare  but  pregnant  utterance  of  Grant ; 
So  spake  he  to  himself  in  confidence, 
For  when  he  would,  he  knew  the  mastery 
Of  deeper  silence  than  the  silent  Grant, 
While  talking  thus  within  to  his  own  soul : 

' '  Such  change  of  plan  must  needs  be  pondered  well, 
It  runs  contrarying  my  choicest  hope 
Which  I  have  harbored  secretly  for  years, 

(43) 


44       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Deeming  that  Richmond  never  can  be  taken 

But  by  the  bound-surmounting-  soldiery 

"With  spirit  marching  hither  from  the  West, 

Of  which  Grant  is  himself  the  best  example. 

Yet  I  have  always  found  that  his  clear  will 

Rose  from  the  very  sources  of  events 

With  which  in  war  he  silently  communes, 

Tapping  therefrom  his  deed  direct  in  stroke, 

Not  needing  roundabout  reflection's  turns. 

Volition  is  the  hero's  utterance 

So  sudden  that  he  knows  it  not  himself. 

But  as  for  me  I  have  in  thought  to  prove 

The  undercurrent  of  the  fresh  design 

Which  he  has  hurtled  on  my  dazed  surprise. 

But  this  he  must  confess  now  to  himself : 

He  has  not  broken  through  the  Fatal  Line 

Tlere  in  'the  East,  though  he  was  hither  brought 

Just  for  that  goal  from  Western  victories 

Which  championed  him  the  coming  limit-breaker. 

I  know  he  longs  to  seize  the  one  chance  left 

That  he  retrieve  his  name,  now  in  eclipse, 

To  first  supremacy  of  generalship. 

He  feels  himself  outreached  by  Sherman's  march 

Which  touched  the  people's  fantasy 

Like  some  romance  of  old  adventure  spun. 

To  Sheridan  are  loudly  now  acclaimed 

Our  only  triumphs  on  Virginia 's  soil 

Which  bear  in  them  the  issue  positive, 


LINCOLN'S  MONOLOGUE.  45 

While  Grant  has  not  been  able  to  cut  'through 

The  wall  of  fire  between  the  Capitals, 

However  it  may  shift  from  place  to  place ; 

Attacking  he  has  been  hurled  back  again 

And  yet  again  most  bloodily, 

From  the  dire  carnage  of  the  Wilderness 

Till  this  which  reddens  in  mine  eyes  to-day 

Before  the  fortressed  front  of  Petersburg, 

Which  I  must  now  transcend  or  yield  to  fate. 

The  country  is  despairing  of  him  quite  — 

But  I  have  not,  for  his  I  know  the  will 

Of  elemental  force  when  it  breaks  forth 

Sloughing  the  clouds  which  now  obscure  its  sheen. 

But  that  which  troubles  me  most  deeply  still 

Lies  in  this  Eastern  army's  make  of  mind, 

Whose  limit  inwardly  seems  charactered 

By  what  I  saw  anew  in  yonder  fight. 

The  troops  are  still  McClellan's  own  in  heart, 

Their  spirit's  leader  he  commands  them  now; 

Loyal  they  are,  and  ready  to  obey 

Their  General,  but  yet  I  have  to  doubt 

If  Grant  has  touched  their  throb  of  last  affection 

Evoking  the  full  tide  of  soldiership ; 

I  know  their  love  has  not  been  won  by  me, 

Though  I  have  wooed  it  long  and  hope  it  yet — 

That  overflow  I  mean  of  soul's  devotion 

Which  will  not  put  the  bridle  on  its  rush, 

But  flings  itself  in  its  own  elemental  fire, 


46       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Greeting  a  hearty  welcome  e  'en  to  death. 

So  I  stand  in  a  riddle  doubting  here 

Which  is  the  way  to  turn  down  to  my  deed ; 

Is  now  this  army  ready  to  inflict 

The  final  'breach  upon  its  foe 's  array  ? 

Can  it  transcend  its  act  so  oft  repeated, 

Erase  the  mark  stamped  on  its  very  birth 

And  overcome  itself  to  a  new  soul, 

Which  from  its  fated  bound  will  not  recoil  ? 

The  enemy  are  weak  to  the  last  drop, 

They  have  no  more  supplies  of  men  and  means, 

Even  of  food  they  are  reported  scant 

And  each  day  thins  them  down  by  war 's  attrition ; 

Their  slain  and  wounded,  their  sick  and  captured, 

Many  deserting  too,  leave  gaps  unfilled, 

While  every  loss  with  us  is  evened  out 

Upon  the  spot  by  one  full-flowing  stream 

Of  human  brawn  and  fruits  of  husbandry 

With  flow  of  all  munitions  military 

Poured  hither  from  the  unexhausted  North. 

Thus  now  it  stands  between  the  embattled  fronts 

Where  still  stays  drawn  the  fatal  boundary 

Defiant  of  both  sides,  chiefly  of  ours, 

And  quick  >to  keep  unscathed  the  separation 

Which  to  undo  I  am,  or  die  bedamned. 

But  mark !  when  doubt  dilemmas  thus  my  mind 

And  life  cris-crosses  me  in  circumstance, 

I  have  a  way  of  getting  out 


LINCOLN'S  MONOLOGUE.  47 

Which,  whirls  my  brain  between  opposing  aims : 
For  I  invoke  the  Upper  Presences 
Who  voice  the  spirit  of  the  turmoiled  crisis 
That  twists  the  tangle  of  the  time's  collisions, 
Who  breathe  me  with  their  reconciling  word 
And  make  me  listen  to  my  higher  call. 
How  strangely  it  has  come  about — all  this ! 
At  present  seem  they  under  my  command, 
While  they  at  first  were  not  by  me  controlled ; 
But  now  my  Self  and  their 's  conjoin  in  one, 
We  both  have  come  to  have  a  common  mind, 
E'en  if  we  still  are  twain,  below,  above; 
The  lower  and  the  upper  worlds  are  fused 
Into  a  mutual  universal  will 
Intercommunicating  easily. 
Those  Presences  go  with  me  everywhere 
Spaceless,  timeless,  the  eye  of  All-in- All. 
And  so  in  my  best  moments  I  have  dared 
To  think  the  boldest  human  thought  as  mine, 
To  harmonize  the  world's  last  dualism, 
Re-bearing  man's  communion  with  his  God 
From  whom  he  once  was  individuated. 
But  hold !  enough  of  this  long  prefacing 
About  the  inner  transits  of  my  spirit — 
Listen!  I  hear  the  Presence  now  in  mine 
Speaking  the  speech  of  supereminence, 
And  printing  on  my  brain  the  thought  direct 
Which  me  unriddles  of  my  doubt  two-sided, 
And  lets  me  glimpse  the  scope  of  Providence." 


48        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Thus  Lincoln  harked  that  high  familiar, 

Which  had  become  his  spirits  intimate, 

Imbreathing  him  God's  power  original 

Whose  seal  of  proof  now  took  the  form  of  words : 

1 '  Thy  chance  is  coming  down  this  way,  my  Lincoln ! 

To  thee  I  shall  f oresay  what  is  to  be : 

This  army  too  must  breach  the  Fatal  Line 

And  cross  the  same  with  thee  at  thine  own  Crossing 

Ere  it  go  home  into  its  sea-bound  States 

Of  which  it  is  war 's  representative ! 

It  must  partake  of  the  one  deed  supreme 

Which  gleams  the  lofty  goal  of  the  whole  contest, 

And  overwhelms  both  Fates,  without,  within, 

For  not  the  outer  battle-line  alone 

It  must  now  pass,  but  too  the  inner  one 

Which  has  been  still  its  hardest  obstacle 

So  cunningly  intrenched  within  itself, 

And  stamped  upon  its  very  consciousness — 

This  mark  it  must  wipe  out  in  victory. 

Such  is  the  act  which  thou,  0  President, 

Shalt  now  permit,  yea  force  it  if  thou  must, 

So  thou  at  last  shalt  pluck  the  topmost  fruit 

Grown  of  this  Hell-tried  Nation's  discipline. 

Long  hast  thou  wrought  to  bring  this  deed  to  bloom 

Through  many  Generals,  the  great  and  small, 

With  one  result,  defeat  of  hope  itself, 

As  if  thou  sought  to  storm  by  human  might 

On  Heaven's  heights  the  walls  of  Destiny. 


LINCOLN'S  MONOLOGUE.  49 

But  now  the  hour  is  come — let  it  not  slip — 

To  make  thy  work  a  whole  and  universal. 

So  is  this  army  also  unionized 

When  it  performs  the  embattled  deed  of  Union 

And  overcomes  its  dualed  self  at  last, 

Expunging  both  the  lines  of  separation 

At  one  full  stroke,  the  inward  and  the  outward. 

Weigh  well  the  words,  my  Lincoln,  which  I  speak 

From  my  supernal  vision  of  the  All. 

The  Nation  will  not  rightly  be  restored 

Unless  this  army  share  the  final  act 

Undoing  its  defeats  of  hitherto, 

Enfranchising  itself  of  its  own  limit, 

And  on  this  Fatal  Line  unfating  Fate 

Which  has  it  gripped  till  now  fast  in  its  clutch. " 

The  President  stood  poising  on  himself 

With  outlook  far  into  his  thought's  Beyond, 

As  if  he  sighted  the  eternal  Mind 

Which  would  not  be  left  out  the  coming  deed ; 

At  last  he  rallied  to  the  utterance : 

' '  How  dare  I  try  to  win  that  final  goal 

Unless  I  summon  Sherman's  Westerners 

Whose  enterprise  has  been  to  break  this  bound, 

Whose  very  soul  it  is  to  do  just  that, 

As  if  they  could  not  halt  till  that  were  done  ? 

Long  have  I  tried — I  must  make  certain  now, 

When  the  last  thunder-bolt  burns  in  my  hand." 


50       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

The  Presence  could  not  help  but  hear  the  thought, 

While  yet  unworded  it  was  being  born, 

And  gave  response  which  Lincoln  had  to  feel 

Deep  down  where  lay  his  first  creative  Self : 

' '  I  cannot  blame  thee  for  thy  doubt  erstwhile 

Begotten  Off  thy  many  th war/ted  hopes, 

But  now  bethink  thyself  of  the  grand  turn 

Which  has  started  yonder  in  the  valley 

Where  growls  the  Shenandoah  a.t  the  triumphs 

Which  Sheridan  has  st'rewn  along  its  stream 

Erasing  everywhere  the  Fatal  Line 

That  it  can  be  no  longer  there  discerned. 

Such  is  the  deed  which  must  be  hither  brought, 

And  re-enacted  to  its  rounding-out 

Here  in  the  valley  of  the  river  James, 

And  with  this  deed  its  General  must  come, 

In  fact  he  is  now  coming  of  himself, 

For  he  foref eels  just  what  he  is  to  do 

And  starts  to  take  his  place  unique  of  task 

Selected  not  by  Grant  or  thee,  but  me, 

As  thy  sure  vehicle  for  breaching  Fate. 

Yes,  I  have  made  the  choice  of  Sheridan 

The  only  limit-breaker  yet  arisen 

Here  in  the  East,  though  he  comes  from  the  West ; 

And  let  me  tell  a  secret  of  mine  own, 

I  shall  myself  march  with  him  this  campaign 

And  sti'r  his  genius  to  its  highest  deeds, 

Shivering  the  Fatal  Line  at  every  joint 


LINCOLN'S  MONOLOGUE.  51 

Till  it  be  yielded  at  the  last  surrender. 

He  is  already  nearing  to  this  spot, 

Not  many  hours  will  pass  ere  he  arrives — 

Mark  how  the  spirit  of  the  time  wo'rks  through  him ! ' ' 

The  Presence  ceased  the  impress  of  itself, 

While  Lincoln  pondered  on  its  message : 

"  So  we  must  bring  this  army  to  the  dare 

Which  rises  to  the  final  victory, 

No  more  repelling  merely  the  attack, 

It  must  itself  break  through  the  long-fixed  limit 

Which  is  the  enemy's,  yet  too  its  own, 

A  double  liberation  thus  it  wins. 

And  this  will  be  Grant 's  own  recovery, 

Will  purge  his  sun  of  all  eclipse  again 

Till  it  burns  brighter  than  it  did  at  Vicksburg. 

But  that  which  sends  through  me  the  deepest  thrill, 

Is  now  that  both  our  armies'  of  themselves, 

The  Eastern  and  the  Western,  do  one  deed, 

The  common  outbreak  of  one  Nation's  soul, 

And  so  are  unified  in  Victory, 

Performing  in  themselves  the  act  of  Union 

Which  is  their  equal  triumph  o'er  the  Fatal  Line, 

And  mastery  of  the  primal  separation. ' ' 

Lincoln  fell  silent  for  he  felt  again 
The  Presence  stirring  in  his  deepest  thought 
And  wafting  words  of  weal  all  through  his  heart : 
"And  yet  another  promise  I  foreshow 


52       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Thou  art  to  win  just  then  this  army's  love 
So  long  by  thee  desired,  so  long  withheld, 
When  it  shall  likewise  cross  the  Fatal  Line ; 
With  thee,  through  thee,  and  share  the  laureled 

goal." 

Thus  Lincoln  mused  the  conquest  ultimate, 
And  felt  within  himself  the  vast  relief 
From  right  thing  done  in  the  right  way, 
The  restoration  of  the  Union  won 
Internally  as  well  as  from  without. 
Nor  could  he  hold  hid  in  his  throbbing  brain 
The  uplift  of  this  new  experience 
Of  his  communion  with  his  Tippet  World : 
1 '  Those  Presences  have  hither  followed  me 
Spaceless,  timeless,  the  eye  of  All-in- All 
Who  gleams  me  the  eternal  Yea  of  things 
Through  the  dark  diabolic  works  of  Nay, 
Which  clouds  and  clogs  the  day 's  swift  history ; 
They  seem  to  be  of  mine  own  retinue, 
Or  else  I  have  become  one  of  themselves 
So  personal  is  now  our  intimacy. 
They  promise  me  the  love  I  must  have  known, 
This  army's  love  and  with  it  victory. 
But  stop !  down  to  the  earth  again,  my  soul ! 
I  must  a  message  send  to  Grant  at  once, 
Giving  consent  and  strongest  urgency." 


IV. 

Monologue. 

Grant. 

So  Lincoln  accepts  my  plan,  not  only  permitting 
it,  but  pressing  it  upon  me  with  enthusiasm,  though 
at  first  he  hesitated  not  a  little.  I  think  it  is  right 
in  itself;  but  I  confess  to  liking  it  the  better  be 
cause  it  gives  me  my  new  opportunity,  to  which  I 
have  now  the  first  claim.  Sherman  is  aching  to 
get  here,  that  he  may  take  part  in  this  last  round, 
but  I  shall  not  permit  him,  being  backed  so  em 
phatically  now  by  the  President.  Those  Western 
ers — I  know  them  well — if  they  once  get  on  the 
ground,  will  sail  in  and  claim  everything.  Besides 
I  feel  that  Sherman  out-tops  me  since  his  truly 
great  march,  and  I  must  rise  again  to  my  old  level. 
I  know  him  ambitious ;  well,  so  am  I,  and  it  is  not 
a  bad  thing  in  either  of  us.  He  wants  Sheridan, 

(53) 


54       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

but  I  cannot  permit  that.  Little  Phil  is  the  new 
military  phenomenon,  he  is  the  very  genius  of 
initiative,  of  which  he  has  a  greater  amount  than 
any  other  soldier  in  this  army.  Without  Sheridan 
I  cannot  break  the  hostile  front,  I  have  tried  it ;  so 
I  must  have  a  man  who  dares  the  offensive,  and 
whose  gift  transcends  mere  defense.  Between  us 
two,  he  at  one  end  and  I  at  the  other,  he  wielding 
the  trip-hammer,  and  I  furnishing  the  power,  we 
can  infuse  this  army  with  the  spirit  of  victorious 
assault.  He  will  transfer  his  Shenandoah  success 
hitherwards  to  the  James — just  what  must  now  be 
done.  I  have  no  general  here  for  such  a  work,  I 
doubt  if  such  a  leader  could  develop  in  this  at 
mosphere.  Still  my  honor  is  involved,  and  I  must 
bring  these  devoted  soldiers,  whom  I  have  now 
commanded  for  many  months,  to  win  thedr  share 
in  a  great  positive  act  of  the  war.  Sheridan  is  the 
man,  he  rides  the  irresistible  whirlwind  of  battle, 
having  the  power  to  turn  us  into  the  same  sort  of 
whirlwind ;  he  must  fetch  along  his  cavalry  which 
envelops  him  like  a  tornado;  but  chiefly  he  must 
fetch  himself. 


V. 

Lincoln  and  Lamon. 

Lincoln. 

What,  Lamon !    You  here  'too,  my  overhand 
Upraised  above  me  like  a  Providence ! 
So  you  have  slipped  out  hither  to  my  help ; 
Welcome,  I  catch  relief  to  see  your  face. 
You  are  the  unexpected  in  itself 
And  bring  the  unexpected  with  you  ever. 
What  news  ? 

Lamon. 

The  cannon  you  heard  speaking  not  long  since 
Have  told  the  news  to  you  instead  of  me ; 
The  rebels  knew  about  your  visit  here 
Through  hidden  channels  out  of  Washington, 
And  took  the  chance  of  seeing  you  in  person, 
I  think  they  gladly  would  have  entertained  you. 

(55) 


56       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Lincoln. 

Well,  they  have  failed  in  that,  and  have  gone  back, 
I  hear,  to  their  old  station  on  the  line. 
Next  I  shall  take  my  turn  to  visit  them, 
I  have  the  hope  to  do  it  graciously. 
But  tell  me  how  it  is  that  you  are  here  ? 

Lamon. 

I  saw  you  in  the  distance  leave  the  wharf, 
"When  you  cut  loose  from  worried  Washington 
For  a  brief  outing  with  your  family 
Upon  this  little  boat,  and  steamed  away 
To  snuff  the  ocean's  brine  and  boundlessness, 
And  to  inspect  the  army  on  the  James, 
Perchance  to  cross  the  Line  as  yet  uncrossed 
And  be  a  witness  of  rebellion's  final  scene. 
You  saw  me  not,  but  going  to  my  office 
I  found  fresh  tracks  of  the  assassin's  plot, 
When  I  resolved  to  follow  you  at  once ; 
So  here  I  am  your  other  self  on  guard, 
For  Lincoln  somehow  sleeps  on  Lincoln's  post. 

Lincoln. 

Heigh  ho !  the  hundredth  new  conspiracy ! 
But  never  mind,  the  very  man  you  are 
Whom  I  was  praying  for  in  secret  soul ; 
I  thought  of  sending  you  my  wish  to  come, 
Not  to  keep  watch  over  my  body  here 
Against  some  danger  which  may  stalk  about, 


LINCOLN  AND  LAMON.  57 

But  to  be  still  my  spirit 's  confidant 

In  its  communion  with  my  self's  last  task, 

Where  I  most  need  a  friend  remedial 

Such  as  I  have  you  proven  oft  before. 

The  war's  surcease  seems  turning  into  view, 

And  I  must  place  myself  just  at  the  turn. 

Lamon. 

A  haunting  intimation  of  the  sort 
I  too  have  dreamed  through  all  my  toils ; 
The  bloody  line  of  battle's  demarcation 
Which  we  have  witnessed  graved  upon  the  soil 
Year  after  year  in  many  combats  furious, 
Seems  on  the  point  of  giving  way  to  us 
And  vanishing  forever  from  the  Nation. 
But  note,  a  peril  new  dawns  with  the  triumph, 
And  that  is  wha,t  my  duty  bids  forestall; 
When  the  first  Fate,  the  National,  is  met, 
There  threats  the  second  one,  the  personal — 
The  doom  which  you  have  often  prophesied, 
As  laid  upon  you  from  nativity : 
That  is  the  fatal  line  which  I  must  break, 
And  catch  the  hand  before  the  blow  may  fall. 

Lincoln. 

Two  Lamons  came  with  me  to  Washington, 
And  both  are  standing  in  my  presence  now, 
The  one  is  guardian  of  my  mortal  frame, 
The  other  is  the  curer  of  my  soul 


58       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND—PART  FIRST. 

When  it  is  broken  by  the  gloom  of  life. 

The  marshal  and  the  mediator  both  you  are, 

The  double  office  of  your  double  power 

Is  consecrated  to  my  double  safety ; 

The  second  function  is  for  me  the  best, 

Which  medicines  to  me  a  healing  balm, 

Else  I  were  torn  to  death  in  this  rent  time. 

My  real  assassin  is  my  melancholy 

Which  you  have  skill  to  ban  with  friendship  'sword ; 

I  would  have  perished  in  my  task  ere  this 

But  for  your  subtle  soothing  sympathy, 

Which  has  the  chemic  glow  to  solve  my  gloom, 

When  it  drags  nighting  me  to  Erebos. 

It  seems  to  me  the  cloud  begins  to  lift 

Already  in  the  bounty  of  your  presence. 

Lamon. 

You  speak  the  dearest  comfort  of  my  days, 
But  hear  the  counterpart  of  what  you  say : 
There  are  two  Lincolns  in  this  mighty  work ; 
The  one  I  recognize  Time 's  chosen  man 
To  do  the  turning  deed  of  History, 
And  voice  the  universal  Spirit's  hest 
Unto  his  people  and  futurity. 
The  other  is  >the  Lincoln  of  mortality, 
The  passing  moment 's  individual ; 
This  latter  is  the  human  prey  of  Fate 
Whose  thrust  untimely  I  have  to  prevent 


LINCOLN  AND  LAMON.  59 

But  with  your  help  alone  it  can  be  done, 
For  Lincoln  great  is  in  one  volume  bound 
With  Lincoln  small,  fixed  to  a  span  of  Time 
And  thus  exposed  to  what  may  darkly  lurk 
In  the  next  moment  creeping  up  in  stealth. 
Still  I  confess  surprise  that  you  appear 
More  free  of  that  dread  inner  foe  of  yours, 
The  sneaking  night-born  vampyre  of  your  soul. 

Lincoln. 

I  also  took  that  note  about  myself 
While  tumbling  "hither  on  the  frolic  boat, 
And  wondered  at  my  blithesomeness  unforced. 
More  strange  it  seemed  that  Douglas  made  the  trip, 
And  in  my  thought  he  stayed  a  presence  there, 
Eecalling  oft  our  final  interview 
Before  I  issued  the  first  Proclamation. 
He  still  is  haunting  me  with  sudden  shifts 
Coming  and  going  in  fleet  visioned  shapes ; 
He  shows  to  me  his  spectral  sympathy 
And  keeps  on  doing  his  last  deed  beyond ; 
More  welcome  is  he  now  than  in  his  life, 
Somehow  I  like  him  better  as  a  g'host 
Than  I  could  ever  as  a  living  man. 

Lamon. 

I  think  I  may  guess  well  the  reason  why : 
He  stood  with  you  at  the  beginning  then, 
And  now  he  comes  foreshadowing  the  close, 


60       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

At  which,  he  too  will  be  again  on  hand. 
True  patriot  Douglas,  bless  him !    You  and  I 
Did  not  appreciate  his  noble  soul 
Till  he  had  passed  beyond,  and  had  performed 
The  highest  service  to  his  country's  cause. 

Lincoln. 

Only  too  true,  my  Lamon,  is  your  word, 
And  I  confess  I  feel  a  self-reproach 
For  my  neglect  to  blazon  his  great  deed. 
But  if  I  live  I  shall  make  good  my  fault. 
Nor  was  this  precious  image  of  our  Douglas 
The  only  one  that  flitted  to  my  view; 
A  company  of  spirits  was  aboard 
Besides  my  wife  and  other  living  people ; 
The  Lord  of  all  the  spritely  presences 
Who  have  been  inmates  of  the  White-House  with  me 
Since  I  first  came  to  dwell  in  Washington, 
As  I  have  often  told  you  secretly, 
Appeared  (to  step  when  I  did  on  the  deck, 
Remaining  at  my  side  the  entire  way. 
Or  rather  let  me  say  the  strangest  truth, 
We  were  somehow  a  One  inseparate, 
Fixed  to  a  singleness  of  intellect, 
Two  persons,  but  one  personality, 
And  I  was  in  control  of  both  of  us. 
How  great  /the  difference  from  former  days 
When  I  was  ruled  by  these  same  Presences 


LINCOLN  AND  LAMON.  61 

Obeying  them  whenever  they  might  come 

And  breathe  me  wordless  impress  of  their  will ! 

Still  they  appear  and  give  command  supernal, 

But  that  command  is  mine  and  I  am  they. 

Then  they  would  fly  down  from  some  other  realm 

I  knew  not  whence,  yet  it  was  off  outside ; 

But  now  I  feel  them  mine,  though  still  supreme 

They  be  with  all  their  primal  sovereignty. 

That  one  great  Lord  of  all  the  Presences 

The  ruler  of  the  Upper  "World  for  me, 

Director  of  events  of  History, 

Became  so  strangely  twinned  with  this  my  Self 

That  I  felt  mine  the  voice  of  what  he  would ; 

The  change  environs  me  with  a  new  order, 

I  have  gone  over  to  another  life, 

Which  still  is  the  right  essence  of  myself. 

Lamon. 

Friend,  I  have  noted  something  of  the  sort 
Already  in  you ;  thus  I  do  construe  it : 
The  spirit  of  the  age  you  have  become 
Incorporate,  the  mightiest  events 
Have  nursed  you  till  you  equal  them, 
And  now  you  have  upgrown  as  great  as  they, 
And  level  with  the  top  of  History; 
Your  selfhood  bears  the  universal  Self, 
Which  you  have  won  to  be  your  very  own 
And  which  upon  you  seals  eternity. 


62       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

But  mark !  still  you  are  only  here  and  now, 
A  single  atom,  this  mere  Abraham  Lincoln, 
The  fated  one  down  here,  the  fateless  there, 
The  melancholy  heart  and  the  uplifted, 
The  strong  compeller  of  your  destiny, 
And  yet  compelled  by  it  in  the  same  breath, 
Immortal,  yet  mortality 's  free  sport ; 
Let  jealous  chance  cast  not  thy  lot  of  life, 
Passion's  wild  blow  I  may  forestall,  not  Fate's. 

Lincoln. 

So  you  philosophize  me  to  my  depths : 
Two  Lincolns  then  you  see  me  standing  here, 
Endowed  to  be  a  double  personage. 
Two  Lamons  also  I  may  mark  again 
Repaying  you  with  like  duplicity ; 
Guard  you  the  outer  Lincoln  as  you  may, 
To  me  your  deeper  office  is  to  "be 
My  soul's  confessor  and  restorer  true. 
So  I  another  semblance  must  confide  you : 
Ann  Rutledge  often  came  to  me  adream, 
Would  make  a  fuller  stay  in  happy  hope, 
To  share  this  journey  with  me  she  seemed  longing; 
And  once  by  day  she  flitted  out  the  air 
As  I  lay  couching  in  my  revery 
And  fondling  all  her  living  memories. 
She  did  what  I  had  never  seen  her  do 
In  all  iher  ghostly  intimacy  with  me — 


LINCOLN  AND  LAMON. 

She  waved  me  with  her  hand  to  go  along, 
Whereas  before  she  motioned  me  to  stay, 
Then  turned  and  fled  into  her  sightless  realm. 
I  leaped  up  to  my  feet  and  shouted  Ann! 
Then  took  a  double  stride  to  follow  after, 
But  oh,  my  wedded  wife,  my  Mary  dear, 
Heard  me  and  knew  whom  I  was  calling  to — 
For  she  had  overlistened  to  my  dreams 
In  times  gone  by,  whereat  there  rose  a  storm 
Of  jealousy  for  which  I  cannot  blame  her. 
0  Lamon !  here  my  double  self  I  feel 
At  its  intensest  point  of  tragedy, 
Two  Lincolns  in  my  heart  I  do  cognize 
Two  loves  are  mine  enthroned  yet  opposite, 
Immortal  is  the  one,  but  mortal  is  the  other, 
This  bids  me  here  obey  its  duty  stern 
That  woos  me  there  with  all  the  love  of  love 
Till  I  would  flee  to  it  out  of  my  life, 
And  heal  my  rifted  soul  of  melancholy 
Through  cure  of  that  one  best  physician — Death, 
Of  whom  as  God  I  oft  beseech  release. 

Lamon. 

0  friend,  let  me  hold  up  thy  highest  hope 
Now  at  the  point  of  its  accomplishment, 
After  these  year-long  cycles  of  despair — 
Bethink  thy  People's  grateful  heart  outpoured 
In  choosing  thee  their  President  again. 


64       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

And  I  have  come  to  notice  something  else: 
All  Peoples  of  the  Earth  begin  to  turn 
Their  look  affectionate  on  thy  career 
As  if  it  too  somehow  belonged  to  them, 
And  showed  the  model  of  their  larger  life, 
Which  they  must  shape  to  be  their  future 's  own 
With  gleam  from  thee  of  universal  love. 

Lincoln. 

And  still  at  home  I  have  not  won  my  hope 
Until  this  army 's  heart-beat  thrills  with  mine, 
Which  dt  has  never  brought  itself  to  do. 
Lamon,  its  lack  of  love  is  stabbing  me, 
Still  I  must  try  once  more  to  touch  its  heart, 
As  now  my  Upper  Presence  gives  me  promise, 
And  breathes  me  strength  to  make  the  final  test. 
But  next  I  have  to  meet  my  Generals, 
The  three  superlatives  of  soldiership — 
Wherein  again  there  rises  a  new  quest. 
Farewell  Lamon — speak  me  again  at  Richmond. 


VI. 
Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan. 

Three  names  spoken  one  after  the  other 

Seem  skyward  to  rise  a  sonorous  pyramid 

In  colossal  grandeur — 

Broad  base,  upflying  middle,  outtopping  point, 

Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan — 

Whose  very  syllables  mounting 

Climb  up  to  the  apex, 

As  if  to  round  out  a  symphony 

Monumental  of  name  and  deed, 

Which  plays  the  war 's  whole  movement 

From  start  to  end. 

Trine  they  appear  and  yet  one  as  well — 

Mysterious  three-oneness 

Which  stirs  ever  to  action 

Man's  deepest  consciousness 

Bearing  the  seal  of  his  Self  and  the  All. 

(65) 


66       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

The  trinity  highest  of  generalship 

Lincoln  is  now  to  see, 

Yea  to  grapple  with  as  the  appearance 

Incarnate  of  war 's  own  soul 

Rising  aloft  on  the  side  of  Union. 

The  three  commanders  pyramidal, 

Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan, 

Sifted  out  of  a  hundred  battle-fields, 

Will  be  aligned  together  along  the  James 

To  meet  the  President, 

And  test  him  all  of  his  worth, 

In  one  culminant  military  group, 

Before  striking  the  uttermost  blow. 

Four  years  of  the  hottest  churning  volcanic 

Of  elemental  human  passions, 

And  also  of  talents, 

Have  thrown  them  up  to  the  surface, 

Overtowering  all  the  turmoil 

In  their  personal  magnitude. 

Of  the  blue-coated  millions  twain  and  more 

They  are  the  three  triumphant  heroes 

Uplifted  by  red  war 's  selection 

Over  many  thousand  miles 

But  now  all  three  converging  to  a  single  point, 

Which  is  Lincoln  at  the  Crossing, 

On  the  way  to  Richmond's  Capitol. 

The  time  was  a  universal  smithy 
Forging  Titanic  personalities, 


GRANT,  SHERMAN,  SHERIDAN.       57 

Each  of  which  was  vastly  itself 

Yet  fitted  in  its  place 

To  work  the  mighty  machinery 

Of  violence  so  finely  organized. 

Supereminent  is  Grant, 

The  silent  sledge-like  military  Will 

Of  ponderous  stroke, 

Pitiless  for  its  goal, 

Yet  generous  when  this  is  won. 

But  Sherman  had  a  tonguey  turn 

And  would  let  out  red-hot  his  mind 

In  passionate  jets  of  exuberance ; 

Adventuresome,  imaginative, 

Filled  with  knight-errantry  practical, 

Turning  big  dreams  to  big  deeds, 

Topping  the  war's  grand  romance 

With  a  real  march  to  the  sea. 

At  last  steps  up  quick  Sheridan, 

Fondled  in  name  as  little  Phil 

By  all  his  happy  soldiery ; 

But  the  right  War  God  he  is  now  become 

Bringing  with  him  the  whirlwind  rush 

Of  very  victory ; 

He  strides  the  Genius  of  red  battle 

Conscious  of  his  greatest  call 

To  break  the  Fatal  Line. 

Though  charactered  with  much  difference 
They  form  a  unit  rounded  and  whole 


68       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

In  complement  made  of  one  another, 

Constituents  are  they  all  of  an  integer 

Above  themselves  active, 

Yet  of  themselves  also, 

Making  together  one  great  Superman 

Of  Spirit  military. 

All  three  are  friends  co-operant 

To  the  single  end  of  the  "War, 

Unrifted  by  jealousy 

But  bonded  in  rivalry, 

Each  not  striving  to  thwart 

But  to  outdo  the  other's  worth  by  greater, 

And  to  overmatch  his  rival 

By  helping  him  all  the  more. 

Thus  each  was  a  whole  leader  of  men 

If  taken  by  himself, 

Yet  part  of  a  still  higher  leadership 

Uniting  him  with  the  other  two, 

And  throning  one  overlord  supreme  of  mind 

In  sovereignty  unconscious 

Above  these  generals, 

Yet  common  to  them  all. 

Such  is  the  spirit  new  of  dominion 

Which  Lincoln  has  to  face 

In  friendship  deep,  but  deeper  opposition 

At  the  start,  till  overcome 

Just  by  his  own  supremacy. 


GRANT,  SHERMAN,  SHERIDAN.  69 

He  saw  the  mighty  semblance  approaching 

Of  that  Superman  of  War, 

Who  rose  to  shape  from  human  coalescence 

Triple-featured,  though  single-brained, 

Whom  he  must  keep  in  topmost  native  strength, 

Yet  subordinate  unto  himself 

As  the  Law's  own  generalissimo. 

He  knew  all  three  meant  fealty, 

And  willed  what  he  might  will, 

Aye,  bore  love  to  him  in  heart's  intention 

As  far  as  heart  could  see  itself. 

But  still  he  feared  the  upshot 

Of  the  unconscious  Self  of  their 's, 

The  fountain  primal  of  their  nature 

Welling  up  in  bent  and  in  vocation. 

And  so  he  queries  within  himself : 

"What  a  miracle  of  grand  appearances! 

Gigantic  personalities  all  three! 

Yet  they  envisage  me  as  one  ghostly  Power, 

With  its  soldierly  will  ail-too  absolute, 

Which  I  must  gently  circumscribe 

And  to  mine  own  will  subsume 

As  that  of  civil  rule. 

Dare  I  meet  the  challenge  unspoken, 

Whose  stake  turns  on  the  last  authority 

Now  centered  in  me,  of  State? 

Estrange  them  I  must  not 


70       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Nor  hamper  the  thrust  of  their  genius, 

But  rather  spur  them  on  to  their  fullest  deed, 

To  which  they  are  now  marching. 

And  yet  the  perilous  backstroke  I  must  watch 

Lest  Liberty  be  herself  thence  jeoparded, 

And  we  lose  the  very  goal 

For  which  this  monster's  Titanic  energy 

Has  been  by  us  evoked  and  harnessed. 

Three  human  individuals, 

Each  gifted  with  elemental  grandeur 

Upbursting  heavenward  in  native  strength, 

Like  the  mountainous  soar  of  summits  Himalayan 

Out  of  the  huge  protoplasmic  mass 

Which  is  called  the  Folk, 

Ocean  as  yet  unsounded  of  depths, 

And  unbounded  in  its  far  outlooks, 

Still  source  of  existences  unevolved, 

Dark  well-head  of  unsolved  enigmas — 

Here  are  three  of  them  right  before  me, 

Each  like  the  colossal  sphinx  of  old  Egypt, 

Upright  with  mien  of  Nature's  own  secrecy 

Which  they  themselves  wot  not, 

But  which  'tis  mine  to  unriddle, 

Or  die  undone." 

Thus  Lincoln  his  task  would  fantasy 
To  shapes  supersensed  of  his  soul, 
Ideal,  yet  the  time's  true  reality 


GRANT,  SHERMAN,  SHERIDAN.  71 

Whose  impress  he  could  not  help  but  fashion, 

So  he  goes  on  unfolding  his  vision : 

"Three  human  forms  of  the  common  mould, 

Quite  like  myself — 

And  yet  strangely  they  interfuse 

And  blend  into  one  superhuman  semblance 

Distinctive  from  me. 

In  full  uniform  tokening  Captaincy 

With  sword  outdrawn  and  eyeing  me 

As  if  to  make  trial  now  of  my  office, 

Testing  my  right  of  supremacy 

The  phantasm  wafts  me  its  utterance 

Which  peals  to  me  inwardly 

In  rolls  of  thunder : 

'I  am  the  War  God's  very  Self 

Fabled  elsewhere  of  old  as  Mars  or  Odin, 

Born  of  the  blazing  Hell  of  battle ; 

I  am  the  soul  of  all  souls  military, 

Aye  of  thy  whole  army's  millions, 

But  chiefly  of  these  three  Generals  highest 

I  rise  the  one  oversoul 

Unconscious  to  them  all, 

Perchance  disowned  as  well, 

And  yet  their  very  selfhood 's  being, 

I  know  myself  to  be, 

Sprung  of  their  daily  habit  and  deed. 

To  thee  who  art  the  President 

I  now  appear  in  panoply, 


72       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

And  I  proclaim  me  in  power 
Thy  Super-President!'  " 

The  word  was  scarcely  out  of  the  spectral  lips 

When  Lincoln  sprang  up  to  the  test, 

With  challenge  hurled  at  the  monster: 

1 '  Come  on,  even  to  the  death  of  me ! 

Though  thou  be  the  God  of  War 

Immortal  against  me  mortal, 

Testing  the  human  in  conflict 

Even  with  Deity 

As  I  once  read  on  antique  poet's  pages; 

I,  like  the  old  Greek,  shall  engage  thee, 

I,  the  man  in  a  war  with  the  War-God, 

Or  perchance  with  the  Devil  himself, 

Shall  send  thee  howling  off  the  field 

With  myriad-throated  boohoo ! ' ' 

So  hooted  the  President  his  hottest  of  wrath 

In  defiance  of  that  usurping  Semblance, 

For  it  had  stirred  up  his  topmost  daring 

To  war  down  War's  very  warrior, 

Who  menaced  his  rule  and  the  Law's 

With  its  weaponed  audacity. 

But  see  him  smoothing  his  facial  battle, 
E  'en  rippling  a  smile  through  its  corrugations, 
As  he  was  ware  of  a  different  Presence 
Which  slowly  transmuted  the  other, 


GRANT,  SHERMAN,  SHERIDAN.  73 

And  speechless  gave  impress  of  speech : 

"Hold,  Lincoln,  hold! 

Strike  not,  cripple  not 

The  Power  transcendent,  for  it  is  thine, 

Thou  hast  evoked  it  thyself 

By  thy  personal  magic 

To  do  the  final  deed  of  war's  undoing ! 

Here  are  the  leaders  all  three 

Yet  welded  one  in  their  martial  spirit, 

Who  soon  will  breach  the  rampart  of  Fate, 

Which  has  thee  defied  so  long  and  defeated. 

Then  follows  thy  greater  task 

To  conquer  the  conquerers 

And  to  put  under  law  supreme 

Victorious  violence  summoned  to  strike 

Unto  thine  end  and  mine — 

For  I  am  History 's  inner  artificer. 

Here  it  rears  up  before  thy  eyes, 

Of  Generals  highest  the  Over-General, 

'Tis  thine  to  subdue  its  loftiness 

And  be  thyself  the  greatest  soldier 

Of  all  thy  great  soldiery." 

The  Presence  whispered  in  softer  strain, 

Though  with  might  of  a  God 's  persuasion : 

"But  first  uplift  the  great  three  to  their  task, 

To  the  last  push  of  their  genius, 

By  thy  oceanic  sympathy, 

Then  keep  them  all  in  control 


74       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Through  thine  own  Personality  vaster. 

Remember  that  War,  the  autocratic, 

Is  their  life  and  business, 

Despotic  of  Will, 

Absolute  over  the  human  deed  aligned 

To  obedience  military. 

But  thine  it  is  to  keep  the   brave  soldier 

As  the  means,  not  the  end  of  best  polity, 

And  thus  conserving  the  boon 

Of  sacred  liberty 

E'en  from  the  counterstroke  mortal 

Which  hitherto  ever  has  fallen 

From  its  own  armed  defence  of  itself. ' ' 

So  Lincoln  stood  weirdly  communing 

With  his  own  innermost  Self 

And  too  with  his  Overself  super-eminent, 

In  attunement  divinely  thrilled 

To  sway  the  new-born  turn  of  the  time. 

Still  his  brain  could  not  stop  its  beating 

Unto  the  strange  conjuncture 

Which  starts  him  to  musing : 

"It  haps  to  me  again 

To  mortise  into  harmony 

Strong  characters  yet  frankly  repellant, 

Antipathetic  each  of  the  other, 

Best  talents  needful  for  the  one  cause, 

But  limited  into  their  very  excellence. 


GRANT,  SHERMAN,  SHERIDAN,  75 

I  have  endured  the  tyrant  Stanton 

And  put  iron  despotism  in  its  place 

For  its  stern  work  remorseless, 

Though  curbing  it  at  times : 

Such  tearless  duty 

I  am  not  fitted  for. 

Fault-finding  Chase,  ambitious  of  my  office, 

Despite  himself  recalcitrant 

I  kept,  and  made  him  part  of  the  greater  whole 

Where  he  was  indispensable. 

I  clung  to  Seward  of  service  supreme, 

Though  tangled  much  in  hostilities 

With  himself  and  his  own  party, 

Utilizing  him  and  his  foes  as  well. 

So  now  this  trinity  military, 

Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan, 

I  must  keep  entire  for  its  worthiest  work 

Yet  integrate  it  aright  with  myself 

As  its  civil  overlord. 

And  so  I  am  resolved  to  this : 

Here  I  shall  stay  and  cross  the  Fatal  Line, 

With  mine  own  personal  presence  cross  it 

As  soon  as  it  is  broken, 

And  perchance  pass  onward  to  Richmond 

With  me  bearing  the  whole  United  States, 

Made  whole  again  and  new 

In  its  rightful  primacy." 


76      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

This  last  word  he  lipped  with  emphasis  loud 

Out  of  his  tranced  soliloquy, 

Whereat  half  startled  he  dropped  back 

To  a  listening  in  his  soul : 

"But  this  must  remain  as  my  dearest  secret, 

The  hidden  work  of  my  policy, 

To  make  him,  this  military  Superman, 

Preserve  through  war  and  not  destroy — 

For  his  are  two  antipodal  talents, 

He  may  undo  what  he  has  greatest  done — 

But  he  shall  not." 

These  four  firmer  words  fell  off  Lincoln's  tongue 

Aloud  in  stressful  affirmation, 

In  spite  of  his  caution's  padlocked  lips 

Which  were  unkeyed  for  the  moment. 

Then  to  his  voiceless  self  he  returned, 

And  tuned  his  throbbing  brain  to  quietude 

Brooding  thoughts  without  speech : 

"Laws  are  silent  mid  arms, 

So  the  old  saying  runs, 

But  mine  I  feel  as  the  larger  hest, 

Arms  I  must  silence  mid  laws ; 

Now  I  shall  follow  up  victory, 

With  my  rule  political  and  its  order. 

This  meeting  with  War's  three  greatest — 

Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan — 

I  see  it  the  pivot  ultimate 

On  which  the  right  outcome  is  turning ; 


GRANT,  SHERMAN,  SHERIDAN.  77 

So  hence  to  this  ordeal  last  of  my  worth, 
But  not  the  least." 

Thus  Lincoln  has  nerved  himself  afresh 

To  tensest  spring  of  mind 

That  he  may  meet  the  test  of  encounter, 

To  which  the  moment  has  faced  him, 

With  the  new  perilous  shape  engendered 

E  'en  by  his  own  act  to  save  the  Nation. 

And  so  he  wot  of  the  irony  impish, 

As  if  Satan  sneered 

Couching  oft  in  man's  highest  deed, 

And  turning  it  to  its  own  opposite, 

Mid  the  mockery  grim  of  all  Hell's  fiends, 

Till  the  lurking  demon  be  caught  and  throttled 

And  then  be  enforced  to  swallow 

His  own  scoffing  negation. 


VII. 

The  Triumph  of  Personality. 

Rare  was  the  kind  of  drill  and  to  the  point 

Which  Lincoln  now  imparted  to  his  war-chiefs, 

A  super-military  discipline 

Enforced  by  his  own  genius  personal 

Over  his  three  most  military  spirits. 

The  moment  he  appeared  before  them 

Intoning  his  gentle  speech  transcendent, 

They  sensed  the  new  supremacy 

Which  bade  them  all  to  their  deepest  service 

And  softened  pride  to  willingness. 

They  felt  the  Person  over  each  Person, 

And  over  them  all, 

And  gave  unconscious  fealty 

To  the  highest  Self  of  their  own  Selves, 

Subordinating  them  to  their  best  worth. 

For  which  deed  not  hate  but  a  fresh  affection 

(78) 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  PERSONALITY.  79 

Bubbled  up  from  their  far-down  sources  human, 
Recognizing  him  fellowed  with  what's  above, 
As  God's  participant. 

So  the  meeting  was  held, 

And  each  of  the  three  put  forth  his  best  of  himself, 

Tokening  mightiness  military 

In  the  turn  of  his  word  and  look. 

Gigantic  individuals  they, 

Fate's  chosen  survivals, 

Evolved  by  War 's  fierce  selection ; 

Triangular  sat  they  about 

The  central  Lincoln, 

Signaling  upbursts  from  their  nature  direct 

Which  upturned  the  soldier's  last  instincts 

Lying  in  depths  unseen  of  the  soul, 

Yet  of  man's  action  the  fountain  original, 

Whose  spontaneous  play  to  the  sunlight 

Lincoln  peered  at  with  all  concentration. 

So  different,  still  they  were  one 

And  fused  together  quite  of  themselves 

Into  a  common  consciousness 

Which  they  glinted,  yet  hardly  cognized. 

But  Lincoln  well  knew  it  of  old, 

Saw  it  rise  in  a  kind  of  second  sight 

Which  looked  with  the  eyes  of  keen  experience ; 

Soon  his  thoughts  began  thinking  over  himself 


80      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIR8T. 

When  tried  by  the  touchstone  of  failure 

In  the  memoried  past ; 

Thus  he  hearkens  to  his  own  secrecy : 

' '  Once  a  monster  begotten  of  large  command 

I  saw  rear  up  its  body  to  snare  me, 

It  was  the  double-headed  prodigy 

Which  worried  me  so  daringly 

The  fearful  first  year  of  my  quadrennium. 

But  this  new  semblance  is  acting  more  hidden, 

Surrounded  it  seems  in  a  drifting  fog-world, 

As  if  it  lay  ensconced  in  dread  depths  of  soul 

Below  self-knowledge  of  its  possessor, 

Where  broods  the  nebulous  birth  of  things 

In  the  night  of  primal  genesis. 

Still  I  have  caught  the  lay  of  that  Power 

Floating  between  two  worlds,  the  seen  and  unseen, 

In  my  vision  inner  and  outer 

Discerning  it  as  my  topmost  adversary, 

Yet  too  my  co-worker  indispensable, 

Which  I  must  nurse  to  still  greater  endeavor, 

Yet  must  put  under  my  rule 

Making  it  serve  me  in  spite  of  itself, 

Overcoming  it  deftly  to  be  my  helper. 

Such  is  my  wrestle  with  the  huge  athlete 

Double-natured,  double-worlded, 

Rebel  new-born  of  the  time's  convulsion 

To  put  down  rebellion, 

Titanic  revolter  against  the  law 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  PERSONALITY.     81 

Who  still  must  be  turned  to  the  law's  support; 
The  destroyer  possible  shifted 
Spell-bound  into  the  real  preserver ; 
War's  shadowy  phantasm, 
Yet  gigantically  real." 

Thus  the  President  hid  the  beat  of  his  mind, 

Still  it  would  tell  on  itself 

Gleamed  from  his  personal  genius 

Through  his  tone,  his  gesture,  his  eye-shot, 

And  through  the  sheen  of  his  presence  whole, 

While  the  trine  of  highest  generalship 

Held  converse  with  him,  the  one  Lincoln, 

In  flesh  and  blood  of  his  human  finitude ; 

Both  sides  were  there  and  chatted  in  by-play 

Many  a  little  joke  and  odd  anecdote ; 

But  each  was  aware  of  something  else 

Overtowering  all  of  their  words, 

Each  caught  an  inner  glimpse  of  himself 

Communing  with  another  world 

Invisible  but  impressing  the  soul ; 

For  the  Generals  three  supreme 

Touched  the  Personality  ruling 

Each  and  all  of  them  as  a  unit, 

Voicing  its  sovereignty  now  through  mortal  lips ; 

But  Lincoln  also  visioned  above  his  senses 

The  military  spirit 's  semblance 

Begotten  huge  of  the  warlike  deeds 


82       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Of  the  time's  greatest  soldiery. 

He  pierced  its  heart  with  his  poignant  look, 

The  very  lightning  of  fate, 

Till  it  slid  fading  slowly  away, 

No  longer  a  presence  there. 

Then  Grant  spake  briefly  up : 

1 '  I  have  given  order  for  a  full,  grand  parade 

This  afternoon  to  honor  our  President ; 

Him  we  three  shall  accompany  thither 

To  serve  as  his  retinue  worthiest 

Before  the  eyes  of  our  soldiers  enranked — 

He  being  the  greatest  soldier  of  all." 

The  Generals  three  then  rode  away, 

Each  staying  alone  meanwhile, 

Having  heard  the  order  to  meet  again, 

In  presence  of  the  grand  army  and  Lincoln, 

But  more  intently  each  caught  up  another  voice, 

As  by  himself  he  turned  down  his  road ; 

There  came  a  whisper  to  him  on  the  air 

Laden  with  a  message  supernal, 

Yet  also  thrilling  out  of  his  own  depths : 

"How  Lincoln's  sovereign  Personality 

Shadowed  over  all  three  of  us, 

Separate  and  together, 

In  that  uppermost  test  of  our  spirits ! 

Beshoiue  by  his  presence  of  majesty 

We  felt  ourselves  but  his  instruments, 

We  became  his,  no  longer  our  own ; 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  PERSONALITY.      83 

Though  we  each  held  our  position  unique 

In  our  own  sphere  of  supreme  generalship, 

We  found  a  still  higher  general, 

To  whom  each  one  by  himself, 

And  all  three  of  us  though  united 

In  one  soldier  supernal, 

Bowed  as  to  our  generalissimo; 

That  soldierly  oversoul  of  ours  he  won, 

And  then  he  humbled  it  gracefully, 

As  if  it  were  summoned  down  to  implead 

Before  its  highest  tribunal. ' ' 

Such  was  the  discipline  new 

Which  Lincoln  imparted  in  that  one  drill 

To  his  well-schooled  disciplinarians 

In  camp  upon  the  River  James. 

He  was  the  triumph  over  the  war  triumphant, 

The  General  over  the  greatest  Generals, 

Who  have  come  now  to  know  themselves 

As  but  a  part  of  what  is  the  whole, 

As  but  a  means  of  what  is  the  end. 

No  military  dictator  will  now  appear, 

Such  as  hitherto  oft  has  arisen ; 

The  very  Will  of  War  has  found  and  adopted 

The  higher  Will  of  itself 

Through  the  school  of  Lincoln 's  Personality. 

The  moment  called  for  the  lesson  taught 

Within  those  tented  quarters 


84      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

To  mightiest  of  his  soldiery, 

By  the  President  acting  the  time's  schoolmaster, 

Revealing  a  mightier  selfhood 

Than  War's  own  overself  violent 

Prone  to  take  captive  the  lordship  of  Law. 

The  President  weary  turns  to  his  couch 

To  unbend  the  strain  of  his  struggle 

In  revery's  soothing  composure; 

But  scarce  had  he  shut  down  his  eye-lids 

When  the  Presence,  his  faithful  familiar 

Fleeted  into  his  soul  still  ajar 

Between  a  sleep  and  a  dream 

And  speechless  began  the  impress  of  speech. 

"How  strange  was  the  conjunction! 

Each  of  the  three  as  simple  single  man 

Was  dutiful  to  thee,  affectionate, 

Yea  vowed  to  the  Law's  supremacy; 

Yet  such  was  not  the  dread  Superman 

In  whom  each  shared  as  part  constitutive 

By  native  bent  of  own  character, 

As  well  as  by  his  life's  activity. 

The  soldier  is  one  long  obedience 

Which  at  the  end  may  disobey; 

The  oath  military  so  deeply  sworn 

Has  often  revealed  the  subtle  turn 

To  forswear  itself. 

Not  with  the  man  but  with  this  Superman, 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  PERSONALITY.  85 

0  Lincoln,  befell  thy  sinister  duel, 

Thou  hadst  to  clinch  him  in  mortal  wrestle 

As  the  real  protagonist, 

Never  letting  him  get  incorporate, 

In  one  chieftain  supreme, 

Even  while  pushing  him  up  to  greatest  deeds. 

It  was  a  double-sided  contest, 

And  the  victor  had  to  win  both  sides 

Or  else  be  the  loser  and  lost ; 

For  he  had  to  fetter  the  very  giant 

Whom  he  had  nursed  to  might  and  then  loosed." 

Here  Lincoln  leaped  up  adream 
And  groaned  out  in  sympathy 
With  his  own  Superman  vanquished, 
His  child  begotten,  yet  by  him  cast  out. 
Still  more  he  compassioned  his  Generals, 
Whose  highest  self  he  seemed  to  undo ; 
But  the  Presence  bade  him  composure, 
Breathing  again  the  influx  supernal, 
Wordless  himself  but  instilling  these  words : 
"Repeat  the  thought  till  it  be  understood, 
0  sorrow-shent  Lincoln! 
As  individuals  they  to  thee  were  not  hostile, 
These  first  Captains,  but  loved  the  President, 
Nor  ambitious  of  thy  place  or  power, 
As  far  as  they  could  know  themselves ; 
Still  an  unconscious  life  was  also  theirs 


86      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

The  drill  of  habit  and  vocation, 

"Which  had  to  be  reckoned  with  just  now 

For  the  crisis  is  here. 

The  sunless  realm  underneath  the  human  day 

Of  self-cognition  and  known  intention 

Has  to  be  summoned  up  to  the  light 

Before  the  judgment-seat  of  law  supreme, 

Lest  that  dark  underworld  of  might  and  violence 

Break  its  restraint,  and  then  pour  forth 

Over  the  land  in  eruptive  overflow 

Its  chaos  stored  up  by  the  aeons. 

So  History  oft  has  exampled  it; 

But  now  she  can  tell  another  tale 

0  Lincoln,  of  thy  epochal  deed, 

How  thou  didst  win  thy  greatest  triumph 

Of  sheer  Personality 

Over  War's  monstrous  Superman 

Hitherto  unconquerable. ' ' 

So  messaged  the  Presence  and  faded 

As  the  thrilled  Lincoln  awoke 

With  its  impress  still  throbbing  through  him 

In  every  blood  corpuscle. 

The  President  could  not  help  reflecting 

Upon  the  overearthly  encounter 

Which  he  had  dared  to  the  outcome 

With  monster  so  mightily  real, 

Though  he  returned  victorious. 


THE  TRIUMPH  OF  PERSONALITY.  87 

Plodding  about  his  chamber  he  whispered 

Unto  his  genius  a  congratulation: 

"I  confess  my  innermost  mood  uplifted 

At  the  result  of  this  new  tournament, 

Very  different  from  that  other  kind 

Which  as  a  roistering  youth  I  practiced 

Against  the  giants  of  New  Salem 

In  twisting  tussle  over  the  greensward, 

Where  I  tumbled  the  township's  hero. 

This  wrestler  also  I  have  flung  down 

Though  supersensible. 

No  longer  can  he,  though  embodied  visibly 

In  the  time's  greatest  soldier, 

Rise  up  absolute  Will  and  seize  the  prize 

For  his  own  which  he  may  have  won 

For  the  whole  Nation 

By  his  unheld  right  arm  battling, 

Which  I  still  have  to  catch  and  hold, 

Lest  in  its  sweep  it  should  strike  the  other  way, 

As  its  record  so  often  has  told 

In  Europe 's  History ; 

No  Caesar,  no  Cromwell,  no  Napoleon 

Can  be  of  this  war  now  begotten 

Though  Europe  prophesies  them  for  us 

In  her  word  and  too  in  her  deed, 

Because  they  truly  are  hers, 

Born  of  the  soul  of  her  world, 

But  not  of  ours. 


88      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Still  I  have  felt  that  same  peril, 
To  lurk  in  War's  acted  irony, 
And  watched  it  from  the  start 
Fearing  its  treacherous  counterstroke, 
Throttling  it  when  it  dared  peep  up 
Here  in  the  East,  there  in  the  West, 
Hinting  of  military  dictatorship. 
But  the  Superman  Titanic  of  War, 
I  fear  him  not  henceforth, 
For  he  cannot  re-incarnate  himself 
In  these  United  States, 
Being  not  American 
But  otherwhere  of  consciousness." 

Here  Lincoln  suddenly  snapped  meditation 

As  he  looked  down  the  roadway, 

For  he  saw  a  blue  uniform  coming 

Whose  image  he  recognized ; 

Shooting  vocables  quick  with  surprise, 

He  murmured  into  his  soul  : 

"Dive  down,  thou  audacious  thought! 

Sheathe  thyself  in  my  brain's  scabbard, 

Here  comes  my  greatest  General 

To  escort  me  to  the  proud  pomp  of  parade 

Where  I  may  see  the  spectacle  military, 

But  also  scan  the  soldiery  common 

In  which  I  always  discern 

Aught  revealing  myself  or  the  People/' 


VIII. 
Lincoln  in.  the  Saddle. 

One  black  loose  habit  with  a  high  hat 

Swimming  in  seas  of  boundless  blue 

Advances  amid  a  wavy  up  and  down 

At  the  head  of  a  bright  cavalcade 

Tossing  with  well-styled  uniforms 

Made  after  a  given  pattern, 

Each  like  the  other. 

Just  the  one  individual 

Original  among  a  hundred  thousand  atoms, 

His  dress  bespeaks  who  he  is  in  advance 

And  yet  more  his  look — 

The  very  contrast  to  war's  stiff  pageantry 

Well-drilled  to  the  last  pose. 

He  rides  up  the  way  as  the  Folk  incarnate, 

Carelessly  slouching  the  outward  ever 

But  stressful  of  the  meaning  of  things, 

And  seeking  the  point  creative. 

(89) 


90      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

'  '  Here  he  comes,  our  President ! ' ' 

The  soldiers  were  lipping  it,  through  their  lines 

Enranked  in  pomp  of  War 

With  every  button  glistening, 

While  bayonet  fixed  on  gun-barrel  polished 

Would  stab  the  eye  with  strokes  of  sheen 

In  hands  of  many  marching  thousands. 

And  the  swords  of  officers  gleaming  unsheathed, 

Regiment  after  regiment 

Would  leap  upward  with  starry  sparkle 

To  salute  good  Father  Abraham, 

Who,  long-legged,  high-headed, 

Eode  to  the  front  of  his  great  Generals 

In  civilian 's  lopping  suit 

With  easy  lounging  attitude 

As  if  he  would  enact  himself 

One  of  his  grotesque  jokes  of  the  Wild  West, 

Instead  of  telling  it,  as  was  his  wont, 

In  the  White  House. 

Great  was  the  contrast 

Between  his  outward  look  and  the  group 

Of  officers  neatly  arrayed  about  him. 

And  yet,  he,  straddled  upon  a  steed 

Tall  like  himself 

Seemed  overtopping  them  all, 

Not  only  in  body's  but  spirit's  stature ; 

He  sent  a  glance  of  sympathy 


LINCOLN  IN  THE  SADDLE.  91 

Into  each  soldier 's  heart 

From  that  benignant  face  of  his 

Channeled  o'er  with  a  Nation's  pain, 

Whence  on  them  fell  a  consecration 

As  of  a  God. 

Then  out  of  his  eyes  rayed  forth  a  sheen 

Which  shot  its  glow  from  above 

Into  every  beholder's  soul, 

And  made  him  see  the  one  luminary 

Shining  the  time's  first  leadership, 

Giving  its  light  to  the  other  leaders. 

At  once  each  soldier  felt  his  presence 

As  if  from  it  looked  Omnipresence, 

And  saw  the  sun  rise,  self-luminous 

Of  his  Personality 

Centering  all. 

One  soldier  with  a  tear  would  say  to  himself : 

"I  feel  he  feels  what  I  have  felt, 

And  has  suffered  for  me,  though  unknown  to  him ; 

He  is  one  of  us,  yea  all  of  us  in  one, 

I  can  hear  his  heart  thump  now 

In  response  to  ours." 

Another  sturdy  blue-coat  tensing  his  lips 
Beneath  the  overplay  tender  of  emotion 
Made  known  himself  in  what  he  uttered : 
"I  note  the  iron  of  his  Will 


92       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Which  never  can  give  up  the  sacred  cause 

As  long  as  there  is  a  musket-bearer  left 

To  fire  a  shot  for  the  Union. 

His  adamantine  strength  of  purpose 

Is  what  I  behold  riding  yonder, 

In  highest  potency  world-upbearing." 

And  still  another  soldier  placidly  worded 

His  more  philosophic  bent : 

"I  see  in  him  the  mind  of  all  History 

Now  incarnate  again. 

Behold  him — The  World-Spirit  on  horseback. 

But  the  comrade  at  his  side  would  laugh, 

Asking,  "What  do  you  mean? 

I  can  only  perceive  ungainly  Abe  Lincoln, 

Awkwardly  split  astraddle 

Upon  his  lofty  pacer, 

Our  homely,  uncouth  Chief  Magistrate 

Untrained  in  dress  parade, 

Our  formless  Western  President 

Entertaining  a  review 

At  the  head  of  his  Generals. ' ' 

But  the  azure-bloused  thinker  still  replied, 
In  talk  with  himself  more  than  his  mate: 
"Two  persons  I  can  see  by  double  vision 
In  yonder  Presidential  horseman, 
Gaunt  and  long-boned  is  the  rail-splitter, 


LINCOLN  IN  THE  SADDLE.  93 

Call  him  one  of  his  split  rails  mounted ; 

But  can  you  not  discern  his  other  Self, 

How  it  outsoars  all  his  greatest  officers, 

His  intelligence  overmastering  theirs 

Though  they  too  be  united 

In  one  common  lordship  of  war? 

I  say  again  my  inmost  thought, 

And  dare  name  that  appearance  yonder, 

Though  for  myself  alone  it  be : 

The  World-Spirit  in  the  saddle." 

So  spake  the  soldiering  samples, 

Each  voicing  the  Folk  in  his  own  way 

To  one  another  in  the  ranks, 

Now  uniformed  blithely  in  blue  and  armed 

To  preserve  their  Nation 's  heritage ; 

All  were  cognizant  of  their  leader  supreme 

Appearing  there  so  unmilitary, 

Yet  with  the  greater  sanction 

They  felt  the  mightier  Presence  in  him 

Inspiring  their  soul's  fresh  confidence 

And  with  it  a  new-born  love. 

Also  the  Generals  recognized  him 

As  their  upper  General, 

With  a  commission  supernal 

Of  another  seal  than  theirs. 

Then  from  the  People  of  soldiers 

Breaking  ranks  back  into  their  units, 


94       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Burst  forth  cheer  upon  cheer  spontaneous 

Which  rose  rolling  around  the  skiey  dome, 

In  honor  of  the  loftier  Personality. 

But  Lincoln  turning  inward  asked  himself: 

' '  Is  it  then  true  that  I  at  last 

Have  conquered  this  army 's  love  ? 

Is  the  forecast  already  befalling 

Which  the  Presence  lately  beriddled  me?" 

Mark  still  another  scene  of  note ! 

The  President  passed  a  camp  of  prisoners 

Taken  in  the  last  battle; 

They  stand  in  little  groups  and  gaze 

As  high  horse  and  higher  horseman  ride  by; 

For  a  while  they  stared  in  silent  wonder, 

Then  they  too  broke  into  a  cheer — 

Perchance  not  all  of  them,  not  a  half — 

But  a  bold  fourth  acted  for  the  rest, 

As  if  they  also  felt  the  higher  Presence 

Which  now  stood  over  them  in  turn; 

Their  benefactor  he  despite  themselves, 

Their  Providence  just  appearing, 

Though  hitherto  unrecognized 

And  hated,  yea  despised 

With  aristocratic  disdain. 

The  President  heard  it,  and  reined  up  his  horse, 
He  shot  a  flight  of  transcendent  gleams, 


LINCOLN  IN  THE  SADDLE.  95 

With  words  exultant : 

' '  That  is  the  summit  of  my  hope — 

To  win  my  enemies'  affection, 

And  soften  their  hearts  once  more 

Members  to  be  of  the  Union ! 

That  grey-coated  cheer  again! 

The  action  thrills  me  more  holily 

Than  the  blue-coated  hurrah 

Yelled  of  my  soldiery's  thousands. 

Hark !  once  more !    What  means  it  ? 

The  signal  of  future  harmony 

Foretokening  oneness  new  of  the  Nation — 

I  hail  the  act  as  prophetic 

Of  my  dearest  longing  realized, 

And  of  the  Fatal  Line  wiped  out." 

So  he  waved  his  warmest  salutation 

To  his  loved  rebels, 

Then  hurried  away  to  his  quarters 

Where  he  flung  himself  down  on  his  couch 

To  hold  a  festival  happy  of  thoughts 

With  himself  alone, 

Letting  them  run  out  into  still  words 

About  this  Potomac  army. 

"So  I  have  won  its  love 

After  a  four  years'  wooing ! 

I  felt  barred  out  despite  all  endeavor, 

By  a  more  favored  suitor ; 


96       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

McClellan  seemed  to  have  charmed  it  and  held  it 

Even  when  he  was  absent. 

Till  now  I  never  could  cross  its  barrier, 

That  solid  wall  of  hearts 

Upheaved  against  me  in  this  army, 

Having  some  subtle  strange  connection 

With  the  outer  wall  of  Fate 

Hitherto  here  insurmountable 

By  this  same  army, 

And  also  by  me. 

But  now  the  change !    No  more  I  feel 

That  bodeful  reserve  as  if  it  were  sulking 

Underneath  its  dutiful  cheers; 

The  inner  barrier  is  overflowed, 

And  so  will  the  outer  be  next. 

Now  I  forefeel  I  shall  cross  the  Fatal  Line, 

Rebellion 's  Line  so  oft  up  thrust  against  me, 

With  bloody  carnage. 

But  another  task  lies  nearest — 

Let  me  at  once  push  off  to  that." 

Meanwhile  the  three  great  Generals  again  beheld 

Their  greater  General, 

Whose  soul  was  big  enough 

To  take  up  both  sides,  South  and  North, 

Victor  and  vanquished,  friend  and  foe, 

And  weld  them  to  a  higher  Union. 

It  was  another  even  larger  lesson 


LINCOLN  IN  THE  SADDLE.  97 

Of  that  school  in  which  they  had  been  trained 
During  these  last  few  days  of  instruction, 
By  the  world's  school-master, 
When  military  discipline  itself 
Was  disciplined. 

Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan, 

The  trinity  highest  of  Generalship, 

With  the  new  lesson  in  the  heart 

Each  goes  his  way  victorious 

To  do  the  final  deed. 

And  the  Generals  marked  the  inner  hold 

Of  Lincoln's  overarching  love 

Upon  the  whole  people, 

How  it  began  to  cement 

The  sides  hitherto  so  deeply  divorced, 

Bonding  them  in  the  heart 's  unity. 

The  folk's  mediator  with  the  age 

He  revealed  himself, 

And  the  savior  of  the  Nation's  one  being 

With  its  liberty. 

Mark  too  the  Superman  military 

Eise  the  triumphant  Genius  of  War 

Overwhelming  the  foe, 

But  limiting  now  himself  as  subsumed 

Under  the  greater  Self  above  him. 

Lincoln  had  sprung  out  of  his  revery, 
The  happiest  he  had  known  in  years, 


98        LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

For  he  felt  the  victory  first  of  love 

Whose  withholding  so  long  had  been  his  gloom, 

But  also  it  brought  the  certain  presage 

Of  the  outer  rise  over  destiny's  bound 

Which  had  so  oft  him  repelled  in  defeat. 

But  mid  this  outburst  of  sudden  joy 

He  bethought  himself  of  the  sorrows, 

Which  saddened  the  time, 

And  thus  worded  his  sympathy : 

1 1  The  pomp  of  war  I  have  just  witnessed 

And  shared  its  glory ; 

I  now  must  look  at  the  other  side, 

And  suffer  with  suffering, 

That  I  be  whole  myself. 

Where  is  my  guide,  the  Doctor  ? 

Let  us  be  off  at  once." 

But  the  soldiers  now  individuals, 

Loosed  from  their  chain  of  order, 

Grouped  themselves  at  the  roaring  camp-fires 

For  their  meal  of  crackers  and  bacon — 

Each  one  thinking  of  the  apparition 

Seen  that  day  on  horseback 

Overtopping  the  highest  officers 

In  weird  collossality 

Reaching  beyond  and  yet  beyond 

The  bounded  mortal  framework : 

What  does  it  mean  ? 


LINCOLN  IN  THE  SADDLE.  99 

All  were  interrogating  in  silent  wonder 

As  they  sat  hushed  by  the  spell, 

Looking  into  the  formful  flame  ever-shifting 

For  the  answer  to  their  oracle. 

At  last  one  voice  broke  out  again 

Fabling  in  repetition  of  itself, 

But  only  spoke  the  deeper  mystery : 

1 '  Time 's  very  semblance  we  have  seen — 

The  World-Spirit  in  the  saddle." 

In  the  prophetic  mood  of  the  People 

Still  farther  flew  the  flighty  spectacle 

Toward  the  coming  ages  limitless, 

In  whose  vast  sea  they  glimpse  the  present  deed 

Forging  in  strokes  of  war  the  Union  new 

As  modeling  norm  of  future  governments, 

The  prototype  of  Nations  yet  to  be, 

The  federation  of  the  continent 

Which  cannot  stop  until  it  rounds  the  globe. 

All  dared  now  think  the  private  soldier 's  phrase, 

In  outreach  far  of  forecast, 

Trying  to  see  the  eternal  Lincoln 

Revealed  in  the  words  oracular : 

"The  World-Spirit  in  the  saddle." 


IX. 
The  Place  of  Suffering. 

And  so  it  comes  that  the  heartful  President 

Seeks  next  the  place  of  war's  suffering, 

Sad  counterpart  of  military  splendor, 

The  other  side  of  all  victory — 

The  tearful  hospital  now  he  visits 

To  witness  the  dying  and  the  dead, 

And  ponder  the  penalty  infernal 

Exacted  of  the  best  for  what  is  best 

Upon  this  earth  of  ours. 

Lincoln  knew  suffering, 

Recognized  it  as  his  first  birthright 

Descending  to  him  as  individual; 

Aye  he  needed  it 

To  make  his  fraction  of  manhood 

An  entire  Self, 

And  rise  out  of  human  halfness 

(100) 


THE  PLACE  OF  SUFFERING.  1Q1 

To  the  divine  entirety  of  his  being 
Transcendent  of  his  born  finitude. 

Still  his  suffering  ended  not  in  himself, 

But  became  an  avenue  to  a  greater: 

He  bore  the  Nation's  agony 

Not  merely  his  little  own. 

He  took  into  himself  the  common  sorrow, 

And  in  his  breast  there  throbbed  the  throes 

Of  the  universal  heart 

When  wrung  by  war 's  fatality. 

As  he  moved  into  that  other  world, 

He  glanced  down  the  many  aisles  of  anguish 

From  the  hospital's  doorway  leading; 

A  mighty  stroke  of  pain's  huge  sledge 

Smote  in  his  brain  at  the  sudden  sight, 

And  halted  him  there  on  the  spot, 

Dazing  him  into  stark  bewilderment 

Till  his  eyes  began  to  look  a  prayer 

And  his  tongue  was  loosed  to  utterance 

Of  faith 's  final  consolation : 

"A  new  redemption  rises  on  the  age 

From  this  daring  challenge  to  death 

And  defiance  of  flesh's  torture 

From  these  pang-pierced  myriads. 

The  time  is  one  great  crucifixion, 

Not  an  ideal  of  long-ago, 

But  to-day's  fierce  reality 


102    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

And  every  day 's. 

The  whole  people  are  nailed  to  the  cross 

That  they  through  the  discipline 

Won  of  our  mortal  pain 

Be  made  whole  within 

Out  of  their  Hell's  separation, 

And  rise  up  once  more 

To  their  new  resurrection. 

The  Nation  has  become  a  Calvary 

Where  not  alone  the  dying  and  the  dead 

Show  the  time's  affliction, 

But  the  living  also  are  stretched  and  clamped 

On  the  holy  rood  of  woe 

Causing  the  tribulation  massed 

Of  all  hearts  of  the  people." 

So  Lincoln  spoke,  their  representative, 
Seeking  to  fathom  pain's  Providence 
Not  only  in  cold  reason's  argument 
But  in  the  soul's  outburst  of  feeling; 
He  was  the  concentration  quivering 
Of  their  colossal  agony, 
As  well  as  of  their  resolution 
To  endure  of  suffering  to  the  uttermost, 
Till  the  great  work  be  finished 
With  the  crossing  of  the  Fatal  Line. 
He  had  to  lead  his  folk  through  Hell 
Himself  the  prime  victim  of  its  torture, 


THE  PLACE  OF  SUFFERING.  1Q3 

The  hottest  Hell  of  war's  stern  test, 

Till  holy  peace's  best  fulfillment 

"Would  bring  Heaven's  reward. 

He  the  leader  of  their  task 

Incarnated  also  its  woe  in  himself 

Until  they  had  triumphed  over  it 

With  him  in  fellowship  tested  of  sorrow. 

As  the  widow  and  the  orphan 

He  felt  the  same  bereavement, 

And  with  them  he  made  their  sacrifice ; 

Thus  he  was  all  of  what  they  were, 

But  still  kept  himself  integral 

Despite  the  lacerations  of  his  heart. 

Stabbed  by  his  sympathy 

Till  he  felt  as  his  own  every  paroxysm, 

At  the  sick  bedside  or  in  the  tent 

He  would  sit  down  and  grasp  the  helpless  hand, 

And  cast  his  glances  of  benediction 

Till  the  dying  soldier  half  in  the  beyond 

And  already  seeing  visions  of  Heaven, 

Would  return  to  the  earth  that  he  live 

One  parting  smile 

Of  recognition  to  the  President. 

Thus  Lincoln  sought  the  Place  of  Suffering 
Where  he,  in  necessity  deep  of  nature 
Would  pour  forth  his  compassion, 
In  relief  of  his  bursting  heart, 


104     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Consoling  others 

That  he  be  the  total  man  in  himself 

Encompassing  in  vast  outreach  of  soul 

The  fellow  feeling  of  all  mortality. 

The  corpse  dressed  in  blue  was  borne  by 

On  its  winding-sheet  of  coarse  blanket, 

The  President  would  remove  his  high  hat 

Still  bandaged  in  crape  for  his  boy, 

His  darling  Willie, 

To  whom  he  often  longed  to  fly  beyond — 

Honoring  not  alone  the  stark  dead  soldier, 

But  as  saluting  Death  himself  in  person, 

He  would  tune  to  low  warble  his  voice 

Unearthly  in  tremulous  joy 

As  if  hailing  his  own  last  departure : 

"  Welcome,  thou  loving  Releaser! 

Of  me  the  Liberator 

Thou  art  the  greater  Liberator ! 

I  shall  soon  be  with  thee 

To  receive  my  final  franchise  from  thee, 

Which  I  have  so  often  prayed  for 

But  was  not  to  get 

Till  I  had  crossed  the  Fatal  Line. 

I  have  emancipated  a  race, 

Approach,  0  Death,  emancipate  me; 

I  have  liberated  my  Nation, 

Yield  me  now  thy  tender  embrace, 


THE  PLACE  OF  SUFFERING.  1Q5 

Break  the  shackles  of  mortality, 

And  set  me  free. 

Give  me  to  see  again  the  beloved 

Who  are  hidden  behind  thy  veil ! 

From  the  two  most  deeply  twinned  in  my  heart 

Tear  away  the  living  curtain, 

Restore  me  my  loves,  0  gentle  Death ! 

I  beseech  justice, 

Mine  own  deed  give  back  to  me, 

As  I  have  enfranchised  humanity, 

So  enfranchise  thou  me ; 

Cleave  my  bonds  and  take  me 

To  thy  immortal  freedom,  0  Death  I" 

Thus  inwardly  hymned  his  heart 

Attuned  to  the  Place  of  Suffering. 

Soon  had  the  funeral  passed, 

And  the  blue-shrouded  body  vanished  hazily 

Out  of  vision  graveward. 

Lincoln  hatted  himself  again 

To  face  the  world  with  his  life 

And  bespake  thus  his  self-recovery: 

"What  a  boon  to  man  is  suffering! 

The  test  of  his  eternal  worth, 

Methinks  that  through  it  alone  can  he  earn 

His  due  of  the  everlasting. 

Less  than  an  animal  would  he  drop, 

And  lapse  far  back  in  his  nature 


106     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

To  become  like  the  flower  which,  suffers  not. 
Paying  his  debt  of  affliction 
As  life's  just  toll 
Makes  him  the  freeman  universal, 
Gaining  his  mastery  over  finitude. 
Canst  thou  love  thy  suffering 
And  transfigure  it? 
To  bear  the  cross  is  the  symbol  greatest 
And  then  to  be  crucified  on  it 
Means  redemption. 
Passing  through  Hell 
Canst  thou  make  it  a  progress 
Triumphal  over  Hell  ? 
Such  is  the  price  which  our  manhood  pays 
For  every  step  in  advance, 
Exacted  of  us  by  the  Upper  Powers 
Not  as  a  curse  but  as  a  blessing. 
The  suffering  of  the  individual, 
Yea  of  the  nation  and  of  the  race 
In  the  grand  nodes  of  History 
Is  the  mystery  which  I  contemplate 
Here  in  this  hospital, 
And  fellow-feel  it  all 
Seeking  to  harmonize  myself 
With  God's  secret  in  Man's  creation." 

So  Lincoln  could  not  help  in  his  own  heart 
Vicariously  passioning 


THE  PLACE  OF  SUFFERING.  1Q7 

At  the  bed-side  of  the  Nation 

The  folk's  vast  agony 

As  a  human  Providence, 

Not  shunning  the  dread  sight  of  pain, 

But  recognizing  it  as  a  needful  part 

Of  the  new  palingenesis. 

The  Nation 's  rent  lay  in  him  when  a  youth, 

Half  slave  half  free  he  felt  himself  with  it, 

Whence  rose  his  melancholy ; 

But  now  that  rent  turns  to  war  excruciating 

Even  in  the  process  of  its  healing. 

So  suffering  is  not  in  vain 

Even  that  of  the  humblest  soldier, 

Every  twinge  of  pain  is  not  thrown  away 

But  belongs  to  the  order's  wholeness 

Which  integrates  man  and  the  world; 

This  mighty  tribulation  called  life 

Is  something  not  for  nought — 

Yea,  it  is  divine, 

But  you  have  to  make  it  such, 

Else  it  may  tear  you  to  pieces ; 

For  Hell  is  here  in  all  its  glory 

Just  to  be  unhelled  by  you, 

And  translated  to  Heaven. 

Lincoln  wringing    his  soul  with  such  thoughts 
Was  upbearing  his  consolation 
To  the  heights  of  supernal  purpose, 


108     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

When  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  wound 

Brain-bleeding  upon  the  cot 

Of  a  dying  soldier 

With  a  bullet  hole  behind  the  left  ear. 

The  President  shrank  down  into  a  seat, 

Overcome  not  so  much  by  the  sight 

As  by  the  sudden  furious  upburst 

Of  his  deepest  presentiment 

Lurking  in  the  dark  nooks  of  his  underself 

Prom  his  first  memory  of  time. 

He  saw  himself  in  that  man  before  him 

Passing  off  with  slow  ebbs  of  pulsation 

Out  of  a  pistol  shot  piercing  his  skull ; 

His  counterpart  he  beheld  again 

As  once  at  Springfield  and  at  the  White-House, 

Not  ghostly  now  but  still  alive, 

Drooping  away  toward  the  departure 

Into  the  dreamful  Beyond, 

And  pre-enacting  his  own  last  breath 

In  vivid  deed  of  reality. 

It  seemed  to  the  President  that  he  saw 

The  very  ooze  of  his  final  moment 

Drip  down  on  the  blood-stained  floor 

In  a  gory  clot, 

When  he  exclaimed  as  over  his  own  frame 

While  it  lay  gurgling  there: 

' '  By  bullet  in  the  brain  I  too  shall  die ! 

I  forefeel  the  event  stalking  on  me, 


THE  PLACE  OF  SUFFERING-.  109 

In  shadowy  outline, 

I  hear  the  very  word  of  Fate 

Quivering  from  the  last  pale  throb  of  these  lips — 

This  common  soldier  turns  my  exemplar, 

I  must  soon  be  what  he  is  — 

Long  has  this  been  pre-figured  me, 

As  a  child  I  would  forecast  it 

Hearing  the  tale  of  my  grandfather 

Slain  by  an  Indian's  bullet. 

And  I  when  still  a  young  man, 

As  soldier  campaigning  the  Black-Hawk  War, 

Oft  imaged  the  blob  of  lead 

Burrowing  in  my  brain. 

But  let  it  come,  I  hail  it, 

Yet  not  till  I  have  crossed  the  Fatal  Line 

And  made  it  mine — 

Look!   Who  slips  hither  so  ghostly?" 

Ere  his  voice  could  finish  his  thought, 

Lincoln  was  ware  of  an  old  man 

In  the  hospital's  easy  garb 

Standing  before  him  with  kindly  mien ; 

Beneath  the  white  beard  and  wrinkled  features 

He  traced  the  faint  lines  of  a  younger  face 

Which  he  had  looked  upon  long  years  since 

With  love  and  gratitude. 

' '  Tell  me,  who  are  you,  angel  or  man  ? ' ' 

He  spake  up  in  surprise, 


HO     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Perchance  impatient  at  the  interruption: 

' l  Do  you  belong  to  my  revery  ? 

Or  to  this  outer  earth-ball  undreamed  ? 

Why  an  inmate  here  of  this  House  of  Pain  ? ' ' 

The  venerable  countenance 

Became  luminous  with  its  answer. 


X. 

Reminiscent. 

Old  Man. 

At  last,  my  Abraham  Lincoln!  I  have  been 
waiting  four  years  to  meet  you,  but  somehow  oppor 
tunity  kept  dodging  me,  even  when  our  paths 
crossed.  I  had  almost  given  up  the  hope  of  seeing 
my  Presidential  pupil,  my  unique  honor. — But  I 
observe  that  you  do  not  recognize  me.  I  saw  you 
enter  here,  I  have  kept  my  eye  on  you  for  some 
minutes,  while  I  performed  the  last  duties  to  this 
poor  fellow  at  my  side. 

Lincoln. 

Excuse  me — I  was  deeply  occupied  with  some 
thing  long  past  but  startlingly  present.  Still  a 
faint  image  of  you  fleeted  through  my  brain  as  of 
features  which  I  had  seen  before.  I  yet  am  not 
quite  able  to  locate  you. 

CUD 


112     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Old  Man. 

"Well,  let  me  prompt  you  a  little.  I  saw  you 
many  years  since  when  you  were  a  tall  limber 
youth,  take  your  flat-boat  over  the  dam  at  New 
Salem.  I  stood  on  the  hill-side  overlooking  the 
scene  with  other  citizens.  And  the  women  of  the 
village  were  there  too,  as  spectators,  among  them 
was  a  young  lady,  whom  you  must  remember,  a 
pupil  of  mine. 

Lincoln. 

Unforgetable !  But  you,  then,  are  the  school 
master  of  New  Salem,  who  gave  so  much  help  to 
my  budding  mind.  Mentor  Graham,  I  hold  you  one 
of  my  greatest  benefactors.  That  was,  let  me  see, 
more  than  thirty  years  ago;  the  frontier  village 
and  many  of  the  people  have  passed  away,  and 
yet  we  two  are  preserved  to  meet  again  in  this 
distant  troubled  spot.  Strange,  I  was  just  dream 
ing  backward  in  my  life,  and  up  you  rise.  But  say, 
how  came  you  hither  ? 

Old  Man. 

Only  too  glad  to  tell  you.  When  the  war  broke 
out,  I  was  too  old  to  enlist  as  a  soldier,  and  take 
a  man's  full  part  in  the  country's  crisis,  so  I  went 
as  a  nurse  for  the  sick  and  wounded,  in  whicl: 
work  my  zeal  and  some  little  knowledge  of  medicine 
helped  me.  Many  mutations  of  the  war  I  have 


REMINISCENT.  H3 

wound  through  both  in  the  West  and  in  the  East, 
till  I  find  myself  now  in  the  valley  of  the  James 
where  the  close  of  the  conflict  seems  at  hand. 

Lincoln. 

You  are  still  true  to  your  character,  as  I  recollect 
you  in  my  young  days,  of  striving  for  betterment. 
You  always  extended  me  your  hand  of  help  at  the 
right  moment;  I  remember  your  faith  in  me  when 
I  had  not  much  in  myself. 

Old  Man. 

Let  me  recall  another  event  of  those  early  days 
which  is  as  vivid  this  moment  as  it  was  when  I  saw 
it  a  generation  ago — I  think  of  it  often  still.  Be 
fore  the  assembled  people  of  the  village  you  shook 
the  sword  presented  to  you  as  Captain  in  the  Black- 
Hawk  War  at  South  Carolina  which  was  then  show 
ing  her  character  by  nullification.  Do  you  know 
that  I  have  long  regarded  that  inspired  act  of 
yours — for  it  was  an  inspiration  of  the  future — 
as  a  prelude  foreshadowing  your  whole  career  dur 
ing  this  war? 

Lincoln. 

I  have  certainly  had  cause  to  remember  that 
scene.  How  can  I  help  it  when  I  am  doing  over 
on  a  great  scale  what  I  then  did  on  a  very  little 
one!  I  too  muse  upon  that  strange  deed  which  in 
its  way  pre-enacted  what  I  am  fulfilling  just  now. 


114     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

And  the  whole  Nation  foreshadowed  itself  in  that 
one  wee  atom  of  New  Salem.  Yes,  I  have  often 
to  go  back  in  my  life  to  the  beginnings,  and  take 
my  bearing  afresh. 

Old  Man. 

I  cannot  help  bringing  up  another  matter  out 
of  that  distant  time  and  town.  You  have  done 
what  I  then  believed  should  be  done,  for  saying 
which  I  once  came  near  being  mobbed — you  have 
freed  the  slave. 

Lincoln. 

Nor  have  I  forgotten  you  in  that  part.     You 
were  in  advance  of  us  all  then,  but  the  Nation  has 
caught  up  with  you,  and  I  have  followed. 
Old  Man. 

This  whole  conflict  was  in  the  air  then  and  there, 
and  I  have  often  thought  our  little  village  went 
through  a  brief  epitome  of  the  war  three  decades 
before  hand.  The  fact  that  you  were  elected  a 
small  captain  set  me  to  dreaming  already  at  that 
time  of  your  greater  Captaincy. 
Lincoln. 

A  searching  lesson  you  have  given  me  again,  my 
dear  old  schoolmaster.  You  are  the  magician  to 
expand  New  Salem  into  the  United  States,  to  make 
the  Sangamon  flow  into  the  James,  to  see  the  all  in 
one  of  its  atoms. 


REMINISCENT.  H5 

Old  Man. 

As  you  seem  in  the  mood,  come  with  me  a  few 
steps  and  I  shall  set  you  adream  with  a  new  ex 
perience  of  the  old,  sending  you  further  back  in 
your  life  than  even  New  Salem.  We  are  approach 
ing  the  cot  of  a  wounded  soldier  now  happily  con 
valescent.  Here  he  is,  address  him  if  you  will. 

Lincoln. 

My  boy,  you  will  soon  return  home  on  a  happy 
furlough,  I  think ;  whence  do  you  come — your  town 
and  State? 

Soldier. 

From  Gentryville,  Indiana.  I  am  the  son  of 
Squire  David  Turnham  from  whom  you,  when  a 
mere  stripling,  borrowed  your  first  book  of  laws.  I 
know  you  from  your  picture,  and  I  heard  you 
once  make  a  speech  at  Charleston,  Illinois,  when 
you  had  the  debate  with  Douglas.  I  went  there 
with  some  town 's-people  who  wished  to  see  you 
again,  out  of  memory  of  old  times.  I  want  to  say 
that  we  still  keep  the  book  containing  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  which  my  father 
loaned  you  to  read.  It  has  still  many  of  your 
marks ;  by  the  soiled  leaves  you  must  have  studied 
it  in  your  cabin  before  the  chimney  fire  not  far 
from  your  mother's  frying  pan.  "We  cherish  that 
book,  and  it  is  to  be  mine  if  I  get  home  again. 


116     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Lincoln. 

Is  it  possible !  Another  whirl  back  to  one 's  early 
germinating  self!  I  have  not  forgotten  how  I 
pored  over  that  document  in  my  youth,  and  I  am 
dealing  with  it  still  to-day,  and  am  not  yet  done. 
Sprawling  before  the  fire-place  I  perused  it  by  the 
flickers  of  light  from  the  hickory  wood.  But  my 
most  lasting  recollectiton  is  that,  young  as  I  was, 
I  felt  the  deep  dark  cleft  rending  the  Constitution, 
and  wished  somehow  that  it  should  be  obliterated. 
It  cut  the  sacred  work  in  twain,  as  it  did  the  States 
also.  How  could  there  be  a  permanent  Union  with 
such  a  cleavage,  I  asked  myself  even  then. 

Soldier. 

It  must  have  stirred  you  deeply,  for  I  remember 
a  black  line  drawn  by  a  piece  of  coal  from  the  fire 
place  through  that  passage  of  the  instrument 
which  recognizes  slavery  yet  without  naming  it.  I 
saw  that  erasing  line  again  only  seven  months  ago 
when  I  was  home  on  a  little  outing. 

Lincoln. 

Still  further  I  may  confess  to  both  of  you  that 
I  as  a  boy  was  in  myself,  in  my  very  soul  rifted  by 
that  dark  dividing  line  in  our  organic  law  and  in 
our  country.  It  gave  my  entire  life  a  tinge  of 
gloom  which  has  deepened  till  now,  and  which  I 
shall  never  get  rid  of  till  the  line  itself  shall  be 


REMINISCENT.  \Yl 

eliminated  from  our  land  and  law,  aye  from  our 
souls. 

Old  Man. 

Let  me  interrupt  with  the  strange  coincidence, 
the  news  of  which  we  have  already  received :  Con 
gress  has  passed  through  your  efforts  the  Thir 
teenth  Amendment,  and  sent  it  to  the  States  for 
confirmation,  wiping  out  that  line  of  division  in 
the  Constitution  round  which  the  entire  war  has 
raged.  But  do  you  not  feel  queer  ?  What  you  as 
a  youth  blotted  out  from  a  printed  page,  you  as  a 
man  have  obliterated  from  existence.  Again  you 
have  prophesied  yourself. 

Lincoln. 

Verily  I  seem  to  be  living  in  a  poem  which  the 
wild  imagination  of  the  bard  has  rounded  out  ac 
cording  to  his  foreordained  scheme.  Am  I  then  the 
fantastic  hero  of  some  old  romance  whose  minstrel 
cunningly  conjoins  first  and  last  into  life's  closed 
circle?  You,  my  schoolmaster  once  more,  have 
brought  me  back  through  this  boy  quite  to  the 
starting-point  of  my  career,  and  given  me  my 
loftiest  lesson.  A  presentiment  steals  over  me  that 
I  am  winding  up  existence  itself  to  a  final  link. 

Old  Man. 

I  nursed  the  wounded  lad,  and  found  in  him  a 
young  Abe  Lincoln  whose  ideal  was  yourself.  He 


118     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

had  learned  by  heart  a  number  of  your  sayings  and 
speeches,  and  he  had  one  of  your  anecdotes  ready 
for  every  emergency.  So  I,  as  pedagogue,  predict 
that  you  are  yet  to  go  into  the  training  of  all  the 
youth  of  our  land,  truly  their  greatest  teacher. 
And  the  grown  person  too  will  ponder  the  imitation 
of  Lincoln,  as  the  religious  devotee  meditates  the 
imitation  of  the  Lord. 

Lincoln. 

I  hardly  dare  think  of  it.  But  you,  my  old  in 
structor,  are  not  the  least  of  these  miracles  which 
turn  me  back  to  my  youthful  beginnings.  I  feel  my 
self  sent  to  your  school  again,  which  imparts  to  me 
a  peculiar  knowledge  of  myself,  very  different  from 
that  first  instruction  in  Grammar  at  New  Salem  in 
the  round  school-house  whose  bell  I  can  still  hear 
calling  me  to  my  lesson.  That  was  indeed  an  outer 
training  very  necessary  to  me  then  and  it  was  all 
I  could  take,  but  now  you  have  thrown  me  back 
upon  the  deepest  round  of  my  whole  life.  As 
before  said,  I  seem  to  be  moving  in  a  fictioned  or 
ideal  world  above  our  little  fragments  of  daily 
routine.  Let  me  hail  you,  Mentor  Graham,  the 
new  schoolmaster  with  a  new  set  of  lessons.  And 
to  you,  my  dear  lad,  I  must  now  say  good-bye. 

Soldier. 
Good-bye,  my  President;  but  you  cannot  vanish 


REMINISCENT.  119 

from  me;  though  you  should    die,    you   are    still 
present. 

Old  Man. 

The  schoolmaster  is  not  going  to  leave  you  yet, 
without  giving  you  another  lesson,  which  you  your 
self  have  unconsciously  suggested.  You  have  spok 
en  of  yourself  as  seeming  to  be  in  an  imaginative, 
romantic,  poetic  world  here  with  me.  Now  I  am 
going  to  lead  you  to  the  poet  himself,  who  is  like 
wise  a  nurse  in  these  hospitals.  Our  common  labors 
have  often  brought  us  together,  and  at  odd  moments 
he  has  repeated  me  some  of  his  verses,  with  many  a 
curious  bit  of  his  life 's  adventures  thrown  in  by  the 
way.  There  he  is  yonder,  regard  him  well,  for  he 
deserves  it;  you  may  know  him,  for  he  says  he 
knows  you. 

Lincoln. 

What !  our  village  rhymer  here  too,  Jack  Kelso ! 
"Why  all  New  Salem  seems  to  have  arisen  from  the 
dead  and  to  have  settled  here  with  you !  Or  am  I 
present  at  the  resurrection! 

Old  Man. 

Let  me  say,  this  singer  abjures  rhymes.  The 
old  poetic  machine  he  has  smashed  boldly,  that 
machine  of  verse  which  we  inherited  from  Europe, 
being  transmitted  to  us  specially  through  our  New 
England  skalds.  You  recollect  that  I  as  teacher 


120     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

had  no  great  admiration  for  the  little  tinkle-crinkle 
called  American  poetry.  It  does  not  say  anything 
great,  being  hardly  more  than  a  pretty  toy  which 
is  to  be  thrown  aside  after  a  moment's  amusement 
or  handed  over  to  the  children.  Now  what  I  like 
about  this  verse-smith  is  that  he  has  broken  with 
the  old  rhyming  past  and  refuses  to  be  merely  a 
jingling  jongleur.  You  know  I  am  a  schoolmaster, 
a  pedant  if  you  please,  still  I  sometimes  think  that 
if  I  were  not  so  old,  I  would  try  my  hand  at  the 
new  epic  myself. 

Lincoln. 

Certainly  you  have  hatched  out  to  a  wonder,  I 
never  saw  such  a  turn  in  you  before.  But  tell  me 
his  name — I  remember  seeing  him  around  Washing 
ton — he  has  a  peculiar  costume  and  look ;  I  recollect 
too  his  unique  salute. 

Old  Man. 

He  has  familiarly  dubbed  himself  Walt  Whitman 
in  his  own  print,  some  of  which  I  have  read.  Let 
me  give  you  the  warning  that  you  are  his  chief 
other  hero,  for  he  has  over  you  and  all  the  rest  a 
greater  one,  namely  himself.  But  here  he  ap 
proaches,  ready  to  address  you. 

Whitman. 

0  mighty  soul,  how  like  to  thee  I  am!  We  are 
born  of  one  spirit. 


REMINISCENT.  121 

Lincoln. 

I  feel  your  deep  sympathy  with  your  work;  I 
have  observed  you  before  in  the  hospitals  around 
Washington.  The  nation  owes  you  gratitude. 

Whitman, 

You  are  Democracy  itself,  rail-splitter,  flatboat- 
man,  story-teller,  and  now  the  President  with  one 
passion,  that  of  the  Union.  I  sing  Democracy  and 
myself. 

Lincoln. 

We  shall  have  to  pass  on.  Send  me  some  of  your 
verses  when  you  print  them.  Farewell. 

Old  Man. 

Mark,  that  bard  with  his  strange  runes  will  have 
his  day  yet.  Very  original  and  yet  one-sided !  He 
gave  me  his  book  and  I  have  been  poring  over  it  a 
good  deal,  it  is  not  easy  reading  for  me,  the  poet 
of  democracy  is  undemocratic  in  utterance  and 
really  writes  for  a  clique  of  special  students.  He  is 
unintelligible  to  the  masses.  I  have  tried  his 
verses  on  the  average  of  people  here  in  the  hospital. 
He  cannot  touch  the  popular  heart  as  you  do,  par 
ticularly  in  that  last  Inaugural  of  yours,  which  is 
to  me  the  greatest  American  poem  yet  written. 

Lincoln. 
I  confess,  my  dear  schoolmaster,  that  I  am  not 


122     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

averse  to  a  compliment  on  that  bit  of  my  writing. 
Glad  you  like  it. 

Old  Man. 

I  go  further  and  say  that  he  does  not  fully  get 
hold  of  you — at  most  he  grasps  only  one  side  of  you, 
as  I  look  at  your  career.  Whitman  sees  the  indi 
vidual  Lincoln,  with  great  fervor  and  power,  not 
the  universal  one ;  the  mighty  self  he  sings  but  not 
the  mightier  overself ;  he  stresses  the  worth  of  the 
me  as  single,  but  not  of  the  me  as  truly  socialized ; 
ideal  comradeship  he  witnesses  but  not  the  ideal 
community.  "We  have  often  disputed — sometimes 
with  heat — I  affirming  that  he  does  not  represent 
you  adequately,  nor  America.  He  has  traveled  in 
our  West  and  has  mightily  caught  its  upbursting 
chaos,  but  not  its  rising  cosmos,  he  seems  only  to 
celebrate  the  time 's  outbreak  but  not  its  order.  He 
glorifies  the  Ego,  especially  his  own,  but  not  the 
institution.  How  then  can  he  know  you  as  savior 
of  the  Union  and  its  restorer?  The  little  man  as 
individual  he  hallows,  not  the  greater  Man  as  as 
sociated — an  elemental  energy,  an  upsetting  whirl 
wind,  a  poetic  tornado  with  all  its  negative  force — 
but  enough !  Here  is  my  cosy  little  shack,  come  in 
— I  have  still  some  deeper  intimacies  to  tell  you. 


XI. 

Resurgam. 

Lincoln. 

What  a  strange  sensation !  I  seem  to  be  entering 
your  school-house  again  at  New  Salem.  A  little 
sketch  of  it  hangs  yonder  on  your  wall.  You,  an 
old  man,  live  in  reminiscence,  and  carry  its  at 
mosphere  with  you,  and  I  feel  myself  dropping 
back  into  the  life  of  that  departed  village  on  the 
Sangamon.  Truly  you  appear  transformed  before 
me  into  Mentor  Graham,  my  instructor  as  he  was 
a  generation  ago. 

Mentor  Graham. 

Our  walk  has  brought  us  to  the  room  assigned 
me  as  my  quarters,  which  I  have  tricked  out  to  my 
taste,  and  to  which  I  retire  for  repose  and  revery. 
Cribbed  in  thus  and  given  over  to  myself  I  can 

(123) 


124     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

turn  back  upon  life,  and  get  relief  from  the  suf 
fering  which  I  daily  witness  and  indeed  share. 
Here  is  the  one  stool  for  you,  while  I  can  stretch 
out  in  my  bunk  for  my  composure  and  give  myself 
up  to  reviews  of  the  past.  It  is  strange  how  that 
little  New  Salem  stands  forth  in  my  days  with 
you  as  its  central  figure  who  have  made  it  im 
mortal,  though  it  has  vanished,  I  hear,  with  not  a 
house  standing — only  a  pile  of  old  stones  marks 
its  site. 

Lincoln. 

Well  do  I  remember  your  school;  the  more  so 
because  I  have  just  been  holding  a  session  with  my 
generals,  I  too  being  a  sort  of  school-master.  But 
that  which  echoes  through  me  as  I  look  at  yonder 
sketch  is  the  sound  of  the  school-bell  which  used 
to  wave  its  pleasant  tones  over  the  surrounding 
country.  How  often  have  I  listened  to  it  in  the 
distance ! 

Mentor  Graham. 

That  little  community  has  indeed  disappeared 
from  the  earth,  still  it  is  alive  in  me  as  a  kind  of 
ideal  world.  You  know  when  we  all  migrated  and 
left  dying  New  Salem  to  its  last  stillness.  We  built 
beyond  the  Mississippi  another  village  like  it  with 
stores  and  workshops,  aye  another  school-house 
with  its  bell  and  inscription — but  it  was  not  the 


RESURGAM.  125 

same,  it  lacked  the  one  creative  personality ;  it  had 
no  Abe  Lincoln. 

Lincoln. 

Oh  aged  friend,  still  my  Mentor  here  and  guide, 
you  lead  me  to  re-live  myself  in  your  words.  That 
inscription  on  the  school-bell  is  ringing  through 
my  mind — Resurgam.  My  dead  past  rises  out  of 
its  grave  and  speaks  to  me :  man  must  go  back  and 
be  resurrected  while  yet  alive,  yea  in  order  to 
live  truly.  I  am  returning  to  my  former  life 
through  you,  and  therein  renewing  and  completing 
myself.  Now  I  know  that  I  do  not  need  to  die 
in  order  to  be  resurrected ;  here  it  is  in  you,  in  New 
Salem,  in  myself.  How  vividly  I  recall  that 
strange-worded  motto  on  a  fragment  of  the  bell 
saved  from  the  ashes  of  the  burnt  school-house !  I 
picked  up  the  precious  inscription  and  bore  it  to 
the  grave  of  the  beloved  as  her  monument  ever- 
present — Resurgam. 

Mentor  Graham. 

A  similar  experience  is  mine,  as  you  must  note. 
I  often  repeat  for  guidance  and  consolation  this 
article  of  my  creed :  Life  is  resurrection,  not  death. 

Lincoln. 

I  confess  that  our  little  communal  atom  still 
pulses  in  me  more  vitality  than  any  other  spot  on 


126     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

the  globe — more  than  Springfield,  than  Washing 
ton.  My  entire  existence,  yea  my  future  career  bud 
ded  there,  which  bud  has  since  flowered.  The  intens- 
est,  most  formative  experiences  of  my  life  took  place 
there,  especially  that  which  made  me  an  integral 
man,  and  molded  me  in  humanity's  image — my 
deepest  love  and  my  greatest  sorrow. 

Mentor  Graham. 

I  remember  it  all  and  can  still  see  you  under 
the  crush  of  it.  But  let  me  show  you  something 
which  I  am  going  to  take  from  my  valise,  and 
which  I  brought  with  me  to  Washington  as  a 
reminder,  intending  to  show  it  to  you  when  I  saw 
you.  But  I  never  had  the  chance  till  now,  which 
is  probably  the  best  time.  Look  at  this  book. 

Lincoln. 

I  see  it  is  the  English  grammar  which  I  studied 
under  your  direction,  and  I  recollect  walking 
several  miles  through  mud  in  order  to  get 
it  from  its  owner,  being  the  sole  copy  known  in 
those  regions.  How  great  a  boon  it  was  to  me !  My 
speech  was  chaos  before  this  printed  page  was 
placed  into  my  hands,  and  illumined  with  your 
instruction.  It  put  into  order  my  mother-tongue 
and  gave  me  a  certain  mastery  over  it  which  I 
have  not  forgotten  to  this  day. 


RE SV ROAM.  127 

Mentor  Graham. 

If  it  did  that,  it  made  you  the  greatest  writer 
this  country  has  yet  produced.  You  have  uttered 
the  most  eternal  English  words  of  the  century  if 
not  all  centuries.  Pardon  this  outburst  of  praise 
to  your  face  from  your  old  schoolmaster  who  pos 
sibly  shows  in  it  some  partiality  for  his  famous 
pupil,  and  some  pride  in  his  own  teaching.  I  may 
be  in  an  over-critical  mood,  but  really  yours  seems 
to  me  quite  the  only  permanent  literature — but  tell 
me,  what  deep  sigh  is  that  which  suddenly  breaks 
up  from  the  deeps  ? 

Lincoln. 

Wait!  I  confess  I  am  struck  almost  breathless 
by  a  thunderbolt  of  memory.  I  see  on  the  title 
page  in  my  own  handwriting  the  name  of  her  who 
studied  with  me  and  made  every  lesson  a  com 
munion  of  love.  No  such  happy  days  shall  ever 
be  mine  again  in  this  world. 

Mentor  Graham. 

I  notice  that  you  are  reading  through  your 
tears.  Let  us  turn  away  for  a  moment — here  is 
something  else  you  will  be  glad  to  look  at,  the  pic 
ture  of  a  lady  in  a  kind  of  miniature.  I  received  it 
from  a  Confederate  officer  who  took  it  from  his 
bosom,  and  whose  last  hours  I  attended  at  Gettys- 


128     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

burg,  he  having  been  mortally  wounded  in  Piekett  *s 
charge,  and  left  a  prisoner  on  our  hands.  A  fine 
Southern  gentleman  of  striking  personal  appear 
ance — I  was  drawn  not  only  by  duty,  but  by  a 
peculiar  affection  toward  him  as  he  lay  bleeding 
on  his  cot.  He  handed  me  this  keepsake  which  he 
said  was  his  mother's  picture.  Do  you  recognize 
the  face  ?  You  have  seen  it  often. 

Lincoln. 

Another  New  Salem  reminiscence — you  overflow 
me  with  them.  This  lady  lived  just  outside  the 
village  in  a  fine  colonial  mansion,  where  she  kept 
up  her  Southern  hospitality,  and  deepened  it  with 
many  deeds  of  charity.  I  have  been  at  her  house 
often — she  was  a  sort  of  adviser  and  reconciler  of 
the  whole  community.  She  had  been  left  the  widow 
of  an  army  officer  with  two  young  sons,  whom  she 
concluded  to  take  back  to  Virginia  for  their  breed 
ing  and  education.  Yes,  I  know  her,  can  recall  her 
name — the  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace.  I  thought  that 
her  last  move  was  in  the  wrong  direction.  She 
ought  to  have  stayed  with  her  boys  in  the  West, 
the  land  of  the  future.  I  often  wondered  how  these 
times  were  treating  her ;  a  sad  lot  must  have  over 
taken  her  and  her  sons  in  this  all-devouring  re 
bellion,  these  being  of  right  military  age.  I  wish 
I  might  see  her  and  help  her. 


RESURGAM.  129 

Mentor  Graham. 

I  have  heard  that  she  belongs  somewhere  in  this 
tide- water  portion  of  the  old  Dominion  now  every 
where  devastated.  I  would  like  to  find  her  and  tell 
her  about  the  last  moments  of  her  son,  and  also  in 
form  her  where  he  lies  buried  in  a  Northern  grave 
yard.  Besides  this  picture  I  have  a  few  trinkets 
of  his,  and  some  gold  pieces  which  he  gave  me 
and  which  I  am  eager  to  restore  to  her,  as  she  must 
be  in  need  of  them  now  if  alive. 

Lincoln. 

Ah  me !  this  terrible  war !  how  I  wish  it  was  over ! 
Yet  I  must  keep  it  going  till  it  end  in  the  right  way, 
which  event  I  hope  to  be  near. 

Mentor  Graham. 

"Wait,  my  friend ;  I  have  another  token  which  by 
some  unaccountable  instinct  I  have  preserved  all 
these  years  and  even  brought  it  with  me  in  hope  of 
seeing  you.  It  is  an  immortelle  from  the  coffin  of 
Ann  Rutledge,  whose  father  gave  it  to  me  as  a 
memento  for  you  when  you  might  be  able  to  re 
ceive  it,  which  you  were  not  at  the  time  when  she 
was  laid  to  rest.  The  opportunity  never  came  till 
now. 

Lincoln. 

What  sacred  devotion !  Oh  truest  teacher  of  my 
life,  you  call  up  the  discipline  through  which  I  then 
passed,  in  the  severest  preparation  for  my  whole 


130     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

caireer — the  discipline  of  death.  Without  such 
training  I  never  could  have  lived  through  this  aw 
ful  ordeal  of  war.  I  would  have  lost  my  human 
heart,  my  universal  love,  which  has  always  come  to 
upstay  me  in  the  sorest  hour  of  trial.  How  much 
does  this  little  symbol  of  a  flower  mean  to  me !  Do 
you  know  that  I  often  now  get  relief  by  citing  some 
lines  of  poetry  which  you  must  have  heard  me  re 
peat  in  New  Salem:  "0  why  should  the  spirit  of 
mortal  be  proud" — 

Mentor  Graham. 

Let  me  interrupt — somebody  outside  is  calling 
for  you  at  the  top  of  his  voice :  the  President !  the 
President!  I  shall  open  the  door. 

Messenger. 

Is  Lincoln,  the  President,  here  ?  Oh  what  a  time 
I  have  had  in  tracing  you  to  this  shack!  "Well, 
Petersburg  is  ours!  General  Grant  has  sent 
for  you,  please  come  at  once  to  his  headquarters, 
your  horse  is  here  already  saddled  and  waits  for 
you ;  we  are  all  to  ride  to  the  city  with  you,  before 
the  General  sets  out  in  pursuit  of  the  fleeing  enemy. 

Lincoln. 

Indeed!  what  a  sudden  plunge  from  dream  to 
reality !  It  looks  as  if  I  am  at  last  to  cross  the  Fatal 
Line.  Good-bye,  my  dear  old  schoolmaster,  you 
have  given  me  one  of  your  best  lessons.  But  I  shall 
see  you  again  after  the  crossing. 


XII. 
Crossing  The  Fatal  Line. 

Now  let  us  share  our  President 's  delight 

As  he  rides  forward  to  his  highest  goal 

No  more  resisting  him  with  wall  of  fire 

Which  has  been  hurling  back  his  soldiery 

Year  after  year  in  penitential  blood, 

Till  here,  just  here  his  mettled  steed  rears  up, 

As  if  it  too  would  stress  the  mighty  deed, 

And  with  him  leaps  upon  the  Fatal  Line, 

Responsive  to  some  greater  mastery. 

Thus  he  has  passed  the  broken  battlements 

Of  Petersburg  deserted  of  the  foe, 

Its  cannonry  no  longer  volleying  death, 

And  stilled  its  dreadful  emphasis  of  voice 

While  helpless  lie  war's  fractured  implements. 

Even  a  bluebird  of  the  opening  spring 

Flew  fluttering  before  him  with  a  twitter 

(131) 


132     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

And  lit  upon  some  fragment  of  a  gun, 
Daring  to  celebrate  the  season  new 
Instinct  with  Nature's  hintful  melodies. 

Lincoln  responded  in  an  uplift  strange 

As  if  he  winged  him  toward  a  rising  world 

"Which  now  began  to  limn  itself  to  light 

And  flash  into  his  vision  from  afar 

Out  risen  clouds  of  sunlit  prophecy. 

He  saw  America  awakening 

Into  the  turn  of  her  true  destiny, 

Taking  her  place  unique  in  History 

Asserting  her  own  right  in  the  long  sweep 

Which  is  recorded  of  the  life  of  States — 

America  with  character  distinct 

Prom  that  of  European  commonweal 

And  from  remoter  Orient 's  polity, 

The  third  high  Order  with  the  other  two 

In  the  grand  cycle  of  historic  time 

To  round  the  process  of  the  aeons  yet. 

Thus  Lincoln  mused  his  spectacle's  fleet  flight 

Toward  the  unlimited  of  years  unborn 

Whose  process  holds  at  heart  the  present  deed 

As  prototype  of  what  is  greatly  done 

To  reach  the  goal  of  all  humanity, 

Which  is  to  universalize  this  work, 

Forming  a  union  of  the  scattered  world 

Still  to  unfold  until  it  belts  the  earth, 


CROSSING  THE  FATAL  LINE.  133 

When  its  full  round  must  join  the  continents. 
Nor  could  he  quite  leave  out  his  own  self 's  view, 
For  as  his  horse  sprang  through  the  Fatal  Line, 
He  dared  bethink  the  private  soldier 's  phrase 
Which  seemed  to  throb  to  him  upon  the  air 
Again  in  accents  he  had  heard  before : 
"See  yonder  the  World-Spirit  in  the  saddle." 

As  Lincoln  swayed  upon  his  revery, 
General  Grant  came  riding  to  his  side 
And  spake  a  pleasant  word  of  memory : 
' '  I  beg  you  note  this  well-built  rampart  here 
Which  circles  round  the  town  in  many  a  curve ; 
This  was  the  mouth  which  shot  the  loud  salute 
At  your  arrival  on  the  River  James. 
And  the  odd  turns  and  angles  of  this  wall 
I  deem  to  be  the  serpent's  twists  and  coils 
Which  you  saw  crawling  all  along  this  line, 
As  you  narrated  me  your  dream  of  it ; 
The  monster  'tis  which  tried  to  lasso  you 
With  its  looped  tail  and  body's  rings. 
Look  how  it  squirms  along  its  tortuous  path, 
No  wonder  that  you  saw  the  Devil  here 
Eager  to  hug  you  good  around  the  neck." 
Such  banter  the  staid  Grant,  the  practical, 
Played  out  on  ideal  Lincoln's  fantasy 
To  whom  the  latter  gave  a  passing  smile 
And  started  tapping  some  pat  anecdote 


134     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Out  of  his  reservoir  never  failing, 

When  suddenly  his  steed  snorting  leaped  up 

Athwart  a  shattered  caisson  of  the  foe 

And  cleared  all  at  one  bound  precipitant 

In  equine  exultation  at  its  feat. 

For  with  its  rider  it  had  seemed  to  feel 

Just  there  a  flow  of  earth-born  ecstasy 

Which  Lincoln  had  to  word  out  of  his  heart, 

Though  half  in  dreamery  he  voiced  his  thrill: 

1 '  So  my  imagination  leaps  to  fact : 

Broken  at  last  the  Fatal  Line  I  pierce, 

And  I  am  crossing  it  myself  at  will ; 

Even  Old  Sorrel  flaps  his  wings  for  flight. 

Just  here  it  opens  wide  and  lets  me  through 

Where  it  resisted  fiercely  to  the  end. 

Its  very  head  seems  rifted  mortally 

Which  in  my  dream  I  saw  uprear 

And  tongue  its  deadly  lightenings  at  my  hope 

E  'en  if  its  frantic  body  still  may  squirm 

And  throw  the  perilous  coils  of  its  despair 

Against  our  close  pursuing  soldiery. " 

So  Lincoln  glowed  in  his  exultant  mood 

While  Grant  pre-occupied  had  hardly  heard, 

But  let  his  duty  give  a  random  answer : 

"Yes,  I  fear  that  Lee  may  yet  escape, 

And  we  shall  have  to  hurry  after  him 

Lest  he  with  Johnson  smite  the  troops  of  Sherman. 


CROSSING  THE  FATAL  LINE.  135 

But  Lincoln  could  not  halt  his  fervid  fancy, 

His  soul  kept  seething  over  into  speech 

About  this  new  transition  of  his  life : 

"For  the  first  time  I  feel  me  what  I  am, 

The  People's  very  Self  takes  up  mine  own 

Possessing  me  the  individual ; 

The  Nation  marches  at  my  side, 

My  greater  counterpart  ideal, 

The  moment  I  may  overpass  this  bound ; 

A  mightier  spirit  creeps  through  my  weak  brain 

And  weirdly  domiciles  itself  within, 

So  that  I  hardly  know  my  consciousness 

Just  now  as  I  upon  this  barrier  halt 

And  look  up  to  the  overhanging  world. 

But  mark !    I  see  the  Union  rise  and  ride 

Along  with  me  across  the  Fatal  Line 

Which  has  no  longer  power  to  separate 

Either  the  Nation  or  myself  within, 

If  I  but  traverse  once  its  ancient  rift 

As  I  do  now  upon  this  jumping  steed." 

So  Lincoln  oracled  unto  himself 

While  Grant,  intent  upon  his  business  said : 

1 '  I  '11  tell  you  how  the  matter  came  about : 

The  battle  of  Five  Forks  was  fought  and  won 

By  Sheridan,  this  town  could  not  be  held 

After  its  flank  was  turned — so  we  are  here 

Threading  through  these  abandoned  battlements.' 


136     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

But  Lincoln  still  was  raptured  with  the  thoughts 

Which  sprang  up  everywhere  out  of  his  path, 

As  he  meandered  through  his  goal  now  won : 

' '  I  know  me  with  the  Nation 's  Law  re-made 

As  I  cross  over  this  dividing  line 

Which  also  lies  within  the  Constitution, 

But  which  is  now  to  be  erased  forever, 

The  fatal  birthmark  on  that  document. 

The  legislative  soul  of  government 

Is  hence  to  be  emancipated  too 

Under  the  universal  hand  of  Law. 

A  lasting  peace  will  then  for  us  be  possible 

And  likewise  for  the  entire  globe  methinks, 

If  it  can  but  be  brought  to  do  our  deed. ' ' 

Such  was  his  far-off  dreamful  prophecy, 

Which  dared  embrace  all  Time,  not  just  this  Now ; 

Still  he  kept  talking  to  his  Genius : 

1 1 1  would  be  Peace — Peace  of  this  Nation  ours, 

Peace  of  the  world  is  forecast  in  my  deed." 

The  General  dropped  behind  a  little  way 

And  let  his  guest  speak  freely  to  himself: 

"Whatever  I  may  do  belongs  to  all 

Having  somehow  a  continental  sweep ; 

My  proclamation  of  enfranchisement 

Turned  out  the  trumpet  of  the  final  doom 

Of  slavery  over  this  whole  rounded  earth, 

Not  merely  ours  was  then  adjudged  by  me 

As  I  thought  at  the  time,  unwitting  else." 


CROSSING  THE  FATAL  LINE.  137 

But  to  such  heights  Grant's  mind  was  not  allied, 

The  words  were  but  a  wind-like  murmuring, 

Which  fell  upon  his  ear  emptied  of  sense, 

The  soldier  in  him  simply  made  response 

Of  what  lay  uppermost  within  his  mind : 

"The  work. is  not  yet  done  till  Lee  be  taken, 

I  am  expecting  soon  another  fight, 

In  some  anxiety  I  wait  for  news, 

My  two  chief  generals  upon  the  front 

Are  Meade  and  Sheridan — you  know  them  too — 

They  differ  much  in  native  character 

And  in  their  view  of  war's  right  strategy; 

One  is  the  East,  the  other  is  the  West : 

But  I  must  use  them  both  for  this  last  act." 

The  words  struck  Lincoln  to  a  gasp  for  speech 

For  they  touched  home  to  what  he  long  had  hidden, 

He  syllabled  almost  a  thought  forbid, 

But  while  he  held  himself  from  letting  out 

One  breath  articulate,  a  messenger 

Rode  up  in  haste  with  a  despatch  for  Grant 

Who  spurred  his  horse  still  glancing  at  the  writ, 

Nodding  brief  courtesy  to  the  President: 

"Meade  will  pursue  the  rear  of  fleeing  foes, 

But  Sheridan  will  wheel  round  to  the  front 

And  cutting  off  retreat,  will  bag  them  whole. 

Thus  in  our  army  still  appears  the  breach 

Which  I  must  bridge  by  my  authority 

Ere  we  can  overtake  the  flight  of  Lee." 


138     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND—PART  FIRST. 

Off  in  a  gallop  the  General  wheeled  vanishing, 

And  sped  his  steed  away  into  the  blue, 

"When  Lincoln  now  alone  let  go  his  speech 

Which  had  before  been  undertowed  by  force, 

But  freed  of  press  soon  upward  burst  to  words : 

1 '  Still  floats  a  wrack  of  the  old  difference 

Into  my  vision  of  the  victory 

As  soon  as  I  have  crossed  the  Fatal  Line ! 

Inside  our  own  it  yet  doth  show  itself, 

A  momentary  flicker  of  its  last, 

For  Grant  I  feel  is  now  upborne  in  spirit 

To  close  by  one  quick  stroke  the  double  rift, 

He  looked  his  triumph  as  I  saw  him  leave. 

But  here  before  me  fallen  Petersburg 

I  see,  which  held  our  troops  so  long  at  bay, 

The  very  houses  sigh  their  sufferings 

And  stir  a  sympathy  with  brick  and  wood 

Which  bullet-struck  seem  crying  out  to  me ; 

'Look,  visit  too  this  Hospital/  ' 

Still  Lincoln  had  to  stop  and  look  aback 
Surveying  once  again  the  Crossing  past, 
Where  had  upreared  the  war's  grand  obstacle, 
Yea  all  his  life  its  menace  he  had  known; 
And  so  there  rose  from  his  last  depths  this  thought 
' '  I  feel  that  I  have  rounded  in  myself 
The  deepest  turn  of  mine  own  destiny : 
What  I  have  loved  most  dearly  hitherto 


CROSSING  THE  FATAL  LINE.  139 

Has  always  perished  from  me,  smit  by  Fate, 
So  that  I  came  to  think  my  heart's  fond  clasp 
Was  poisonous  with  mine  own  mortality. 
But  since  I  have  o  'erpassed  this  Fatal  Line, 
And  saved  the  Nation  of  my  strongest  love, 
Methinks  I  have  unfated  Love  itself, 
And  freed  it  from  my  stroke  of  tragedy, 
Which  me  may  take  henceforth,  but  not  my  Love — 
But  here  we  are  mid  wounded  Petersburg." 


XIII. 

Ramble  Through  Petersburg. 

Lincoln  was  fain  to  hear  and  follow 

The  secret  solicitation 

From  the  suffering  city, 

He  wandered  through  its  avenues, 

And  peered  into  its  alleys, 

As  if  he  saw  and  felt  in  the  one  spot 

The  sorrowed  South  entirely. 

Hence  had  roared  the  cannon's  greeting 

Upon  his  first  arrival, 

Here  had  upreared  the  huge  serpent 

To  loup  him  in  his  dream, 

Betokening  to  him  now 

The  little  last  resurgence  valorous 

Marking  an  era  undone. 

Hushed  is  the  rampart's  opposition 

And  void  the  menace  of  the  battlements, 

(WO) 


RAMBLE  THROUGH  PETERSBURG.    141 

Yet  everywhere  are  stamped  the  broken  signs 
Of  that  attack  and  defiant  defense 
Along  the  Fatal  Line 
Now  being  unfated. 

In  the  President's  one  heart 

Hose  up  both  sides  contending; 

How  joy  and  pain  raged  in  him  together 

Repeating  the  whole  war 's  fierce  contention ! 

Strewn  on  his  path  lay  houses  torn  to  shreds, 

Cannon  balls,  musket  bullets, 

Fragments  of  shells,  and  sometimes  whole  ones, 

Like  hailstones  of  the  storm ; 

Trees  were  stripped  of  leaf  and  limb, 

And  sometimes  splintered  atwain; 

Shattered  were  walls  of  brick  and  mortar, 

Charred  dwellings  and  oft  their  ashes 

Silently  mourned  along  his  way. 

Each  ruin  hit  his  eye  a  cut 

Which  pierced  to  his  soul, 

And  at  last  the  tense  lips  of  his  ache 

Broke  through  his  suppressive  speech, 

And  he  murmured  low  to  himself 

Hardly  half -wording  his  tongue : 

"This  is  a  haunted  city, 

Its  tenements  form  one  aisled  hospital 

Alone  in  themselves, 


142     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Lined  along  the  clogged  streets  like  cots 

Showing  all  sorts  of  gun-shot  mutilations ; 

Methinks  they  are  wrenched  with  pain 

And  throb  a  fellow-feeling 

With  one  another, 

In  a  wave  of  insensible  speech. 

This  gentlemanly  edifice 

Is  shouting  in  agony 

Over  its  broken  pillars  and  cornice, 

While  yon  modest  home  is  shedding  tears 

Through  its  cluttered  boards  and  shingles 

In  silent  bereavement; 

Even  the  log-hut  is  scuttled, 

Showing  a  pile  of  disjointed  timbers, 

Or  marked  by  a  standing  chimney  only. 

How  these  ruined  houses 

Strewing  the  highway  symbol  to  me 

The  bedded  rows  of  suffering  soldiers 

Through  which  I  have  just  been  passing ! 

My  heart  beats  in  a  pained  response 

To  see  this  torture  inanimate 

Shown  by  man's  social  products 

In  which  matter  itself  wins  power  to  suffer. 

Here  is  held  before  me  a  picture 

Which  casts  an  image  of  the  South  entire 

Now  prostrate  with  its  wounds, 

And  with  its  spirit 's  humiliation. ' ' 


RAMBLE  THROUGH  PETERSBURG-.    143 

Thus  Lincoln  tapping  the  sorrows  of  the  time 

Was  touched  to  his  melancholy, 

Till  he  had  to  take  flight  from  himself ; 

Then  he  looked  downward  to  the  Earth 

And  saw  the  budding  glad  life  of  Spring, 

As  it  smiled  a  bunch  of  fresh  flowers  at  him, 

While  the  greening  grass  laughed  hope  in  his  eyes. 

Next  he  stopped  in  his  stroll  and  gazed 

In  sympathetic  admiration : 

1 '  See  this  fine  old  mansion 

Of  colonial  air  and  aristocratic, 

With  cracked  columns  like  some  Greek  temple 

Ruined  by  hungry  two  thousand  years  of  Time 

Soundlessly  nibbling. 

Yet  this  new  overthrow  was  wrought  in  a  moment 

To  the  thunderous  roar  of  battle ; 

Tenantless  now  it  seems,  yet  tearful 

From  its  hurt  not  only  of  stone  but  of  soul — 

Hark  to  its  weeping  marbles  deserted ! ' ' 

No,  a  darkey  comes  to  its  entrance  grinning, 

Not  simply  unharmed  but  free, 

And  to  the  rear  is  his  saved  cabin 

Whence  is  looking  his  wife  with  lofty  bandanna, 

Mid  picaninnies  swarming  populous 

In  aboriginal  happiness 

Of  tattered  costume  many-colored. 

Now  on  the  steps  of  the  Parian  portico 


144     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

The  former  slave  takes  position, 

Cringing  his  welcome  in  black  to  the  bluecoats 

With  the  shout  of  hosannah ; 

Then  he  salutes  the  President, 

Even  calling  him  Massa  Linkum, 

"Whom  he  had  heard  to  have  come  to  town, 

For  the  rumor  had  flashed  as  a  lightning 

Through  all  the  secreted  underworld 

Of  brooding  darkeydom; 

So  he  ducked  bare-headed  down  to  the  earth 

In  obsequious  gratitude  native, 

Hailing  in  broken  phrases  of  Scripture 

His  emancipator, 

"With  his  master's  ruined  mansion 

In  the  tragical  background. 

Lincoln  giving  a  friendly  nod 

Turned  away  from  the  view 

Which  so  deeply  coupled  the  boon  and  bane 

Of  the  Nation 's  discipline, 

And  gave  his  wearied  eyes  pain-worn 

A  bountiful  rest  by  a  look  at  Nature 

Now  in  her  vernal  vesture, 

Which  he  thus  sentimentalized : 

'  *  See  there  the  hopefully  smiling  flowers 

Spring  up  amid  the  abandoned  guns 

And  wasted  pieces  of  wagons,  tents,  and  tools ; 

The  Fatal  Line  has  been  crossed  this  April  day 


RAMBLE  THROUGH  PETERSBURG.    145 

As  the  verdurous  folds  of  grass 

Are  wreathing  the  wrecks  of  war 

With  fresh  life  and  hope. 

Mark  yon  lopping  apple  tree  lofty 

How  badly  it  has  been  hurt ! 

Its  limbs  are  gored  with  many  a  bullet, 

Still  they  are  putting  forth  blossoms 

Which  will  ripen  as  fruit  in  season, 

And  its  whole  body,  yet  sound  though  wounded, 

Is  making  new  wood  at  every  break 

For  the  healing  of  its  injuries. 

The  fountain  jets  up  jovial 

To  the  sunshine  in  playful  iridescence, 

Bending  me  bright  its  little  bow  of  promise. 

So  the  springtide  everywhere  around 

Bespeaks  the  fresh  pulsebeat  of  creation 

After  the  winter's  crushing  death, 

Omening  gloriously. ' ' 

But  even  through  the  gladdening  thrill 

At  Nature's  buoyant  rejuvenescence 

Came  breaking  a  wave  of  compassion 

Worded  in  tremulous  throbs,  yet  strong-willed : 

" Still  a  shred  of  rebellion  yields  not! 

Let  it  be  pressed  to  the  end ! 

And  yet  the  pity  of  it ! 

True  men  fighting  for  their  view  of  right 

Even  to  the  death ! 


146     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

I  would  like  to  save  them  perishing 

From  their  own  act,  if  I  could ; 

But  it  is  their  will — I  cannot — 

So  let  it  be  pressed  to  the  end ! 

Yet  the  pathos  of  brave  men  losing  their  cause ! 

Bravest  of  men  now  driven  to  bay, 

And  men  of  conscience  too, 

Arrayed  against  conscience ! 

Sympathy  with  human  failure  I  feel, 

For  we  all  fail 

Falling  foul  in  our  finitude ! 

The  pathos  of  failure 

Is  the  pathos  of  man  himself, 

His  original  tragedy 

Born  of  his  being  individual. 

God  loves  failure  methinks 

More  than  he  does  success, 

Making  man  so  very  fallible 

"Who  still  has  to  win  through  his  faults. 

I  compassion  my  foes  in  defeat 

Which  I  myself  have  inflicted ; 

My  pity  goes  out  to  yon  fellow-man 

Even  in  his  undoing ; 

Still  let  it  be  pressed  to  the  end, 

Though  it  presses  my  heart  out 

To  the  last  drop." 


XIV. 

Lincoln  and  the  Soldier. 

Like  a  shout  of  self-willed  pain 

Cut  through  the  air  the  keen  paroxysm 

From  the  lips  of  the  President 

Voicing  the  wrench  of  his  conflict ; 

Whereat  a  soldier,  one  of  his  guard,  rode  up, 

A  private  of  the  cavalry 

Who  showed  not  only  the  duty  of  help 

But  also  the  bounty  of  love 

In  his  look  sympathetic 

At  the  high  sufferer  there  before  him 

Whelmed  into  sudden  agony. 

The  soldier  approaching  besought 

In  right  courtesy  military 

Yet  with  an  undertone  deeper  than  form, 

Tenderly  touched  with  the  throb  of  affection : 

"How  can  I  serve  you?" 

(147) 


148     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

With  poise  of  mien  and  mind  restored 
Lincoln  addressed  the  comrade: 
"Let  us  wheel  about  and  scan  once  more 
The  barrier  we  have  passed; 

I  am  glad  to  get  to  talk  with  you, 

The  soldier's  view  I  like  always  to  hear, 

As  well  as  the  great  General's; 

Have  you  been  long  in  the  service  ? ' ' 

The  Blue-coat  had  settled  his  own  opinions 

Which  he  failed  not  to  give  to  those  near  him, 

Announcing  the  whole  war 's  strategy ; 

Thus  he  reviewed  his  campaigning: 

I 1  Four  years  have  I  been  bounding  back 
From  this  wall  here  crossed  by  our  army 
For  the  first  time  to-day, 

And  without  any  fight; 

I  started  running  from  it  at  Bull  Run 

And  have  repeated  the  same  exploit 

Many  times  since  then 

Headed  by  our  high  Generals, 

One  after  the  other, 

Little  Mac  and  all  the  rest — 

Including  Grant  too,  till  now 

When  you  have  come  to  the  Crossing. ' ' 

Lincoln  whisked  his  head  around 
And  stared  at  the  common  soldier, 
Who  thus  flung  at  him  openly 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIER.  149 

What  he  had  kept  hid  in  deepest  privacy 

Of  his  own  daring  darling  thought-world. 

"What !"  he  blazed  up  meteoric, 

"Do  you  soldiers  think  that  too, 

And  speak  it  outright  among  yourselves?" 

1 '  I  have  heard  it  told  and  even  sung 

In  tune  to  our  crackling  camp-fires ; 

We,  the  common  tilt-caps,  own  a  common  head 

Which  still  is  ours  to  think  and  speak, 

Though  soldiered  by  our  oath 

Into  the  obedient  deed." 

So  said  the  man,  and  lifting  his  hilted  sabre 

He  would  retire  with  a  shy  salute, 

Unwilling  to  outsay  himself  in  full, 

Which  Lincoln  noticed  and  exclaimed : 

1 '  Stay,  my  comrade  of  thought, 

You  have  more  on  tap  in  that  head  of  yours, 

Tell  us  the  rest,  let  it  freely  run. 

Still  this  ought  not  to  surprise  me ; 

What  I  have  known 

I  always  have  come  to  know 

That  the  people  knew 

Better  that  I  did." 

The  soldier  slowed  his  voice  reflectively: 

'  •'  Grant  has  changed  since  you  have  been  here, 

We  all  have  remarked  it; 

That  strange  eclipse  is  now  leaving  him, 


150     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Which  came  with  him  over  the  Alleghenies, 
And  darkened  his  fame,  aye  his  genius. 
I  saw  war 's  demon  ridge  his  rugged  face 
Only  yesterday 

With  victory 's  smile  which  never  to  me 
He  had  shown  here  before ; 
He  mounted  aloft  to  his  saddle 
With  the  mighty  presence  of  battle 
As  if  he  meant  to  charge  full  swoop 
And  break  over  the  last  opposing  line, 
As  he  did  in  the  West  at  Donelson, 
And  more  completely  at  Vicksburg, 
But  never  here  as  yet." 

The  soldier  shrank  to  hear  the  echo 

Which  smote  him  back  from  his  own  bold  word, 

And  looked  a  silence  terrified. 

But  Lincoln  again  propped  up  his  courage : 

"Go  on,  my  man,  you  are  the  very  spirit 

Whom  I  would  catch  of  this  whole  host; 

You  have  something  else  to  say, 

As  I  read  your  reticence." 

"Yes,  I  have,"  responded  Blue-coat, 

' '  Grant  will  again  rise  up  to  be  first 

Out  of  this,  his  Eastern  declination; 

I  saw  the  fire  lit  in  his  eye, 

Leading  him  on  to  the  goal 

And  with  him  this  whole  Potomac  army 

So  bravely  beaten  off  for  years ; 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIER. 


He  will  now  force  us  to  leap  the  rebel  bound, 

And  inside  ourselves  to  break  through  ourselves 

Before  we  start  homeward  mustered  out  — 

After  the  victory  final. 

This  is  his  crowning  deed, 

So  we  all  deem  it,  and  I  hope 

To  carry  back  to  mine  own  New  England 

The  triumph  of  the  Union 

In  the  Nation,  and  aye  in  myself.  '  ' 

The  President  stared  silenced  in  the  stun 

Of  unexpected  revelation  ; 

The  blue-coated  folk  already 

Had  found  his  nethermost  secret  out, 

And  knew  it  of  themselves  alone 

Without  his  telling  it  ; 

He  threw  his  warmest  heart-melting  look 

Which  tapped  God's  own  benediction, 

And  made  it  in  a  fervor  flow 

Over  the  man  before  him 

As  if  to  infuse  his  gratitude, 

Though  he  could  not  broach  a  word. 

But  the  soldier,  touched  to  his  soul's  bottom 

By  that  eternal  glance, 

Worded  what  lay  deepest  and  last 

In  himself  as  spokesman: 

'  '  One  more  throb  drives  my  heart  to  utterance  : 

With  the  breaching  of  this  barrier, 


152     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

You  have  won  this  army's  love, 

Which  you  had  not  before,  let  me  dare  say, 

As  I  was  one  of  them; 

But  now  with  a  stroke  of  penitence 

We  soldiers  recognize  what  you  have  striven 

All  these  calamitous  years, 

As  the  right  way  only ; 

Take  my  confession — forgiven 

May  I  be,  and  all  of  us — 

0  let  me  depart  with  your  last  blessing. ' ' 

The  soldier  felt  the  voiceless  absolution 

And  vanished  mid  the  azure  ranks, 

As  a  drop  into  the  cerulean  ocean : 

While  Lincoln  turned  off  to  his  quarters 

In  a  tender  flood  of  teary  memories, 

Reverying  still  along  his  path 

The  full  day 's  retrospect : 

' '  Yes,  that  in  which  I  take  my  pride, 

The  greatest  fact  of  all  to  me  is  this, 

The  army  here  in  the  East  at  last 

Has  broken  through  its  limit, 

And  thus  it  too  has  conquered  Union, 

Held  fast  itself  no  more  in  separation ; 

To  breach  the  dividing  line  without 

It  doth  transcend  the  line  within, 

Which  made  impossible  so  long  our  victory, 

Unless  the  defensive  one, 


LINCOLN  AND  THE  SOLDIER.  153 

Whereby  was  left  the  rift  just  where  it  started. 

So  I  shall  celebrate  in  praise  to  God 

This  army's  triumph  over  itself 

Now  marching  across  the  bound  of  Fate 

Which  it  could  never  do  before. 

Having  unionized  itself 

It  can  hence  help  restore  the  Union 

Which  these  colonial  States  made  two, 

Half-slave,  half-free, 

Forging  the  Nation's  scission 

Just  in  its  unifying  Law. 

But  now  their  soldiers  here  in  arms, 

Their  present  spirit's  bearers, 

Break  down  the  old  dividing  wall 

Within  themselves  and  in  the  Nation  too, 

Becoming  one  at  last. 

And  further  let  us  round  the  period's  trend: 

In  harmony  with  this  military  deed 

The  legislative  representatives 

Are  erasing  this  same  Fatal  Line 

Out  of  the  dual  Constitution 

Making  it  one  forever. ' ' 

Then  Lincoln  glancing  back  at  the  serried  ranks 
Of  the  distant  soldiery  moving  in  blue 
Which  azured  all  the  horizon  round 
Turned  to  soliloquize  his  miracle : 
' '  What  a  knowing  mass  atomic 


154     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Is  this  self- willing  army ! 

It  gives  me  the  hope  anew 

That  Government  of  the  People 

By  the  People,  for  the  People 

Shall  not  perish  from  the  Earth. 

For  the  common  man,  the  common  soldier 

Feels  the  decree  of  the  Presence  supreme 

Conscious  of  it  as  well  as  I. 

So  I  know  my  most  hidden  conceiving 

Begotten  of  the  Folk-soul  itself." 

But  what  of  the  day  most  deeply 

Came  throbbing  back  to  his  memory, 

Was  the  common  soldier's  confession, 

With  a  droop  of  penitential  sorrow 

For  past  wrongs  of  his  thought  and  word ; 

Whereat  Lincoln  inly  bespoke  his  heart: 

"What  I  so  long  have  sought  in  vain 

Has  come  to  me  at  last  : 

I  have  won  this  army's  love 

Just  at  the  Crossing  of  the  Line 

As  shown  by  many  tokens 

Prophetic  of  the  end. 

And  now  a  deeper  recognition 

Than  even  this  which  I  have  just  heard 

Doth  seem  to  hover  o  'er  me, 

Foreshowing  mine  the  atonement  vaster, 

With  God  himself." 


XV. 

The  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace. 

"What  a  recurrence  of  by-gone  antiques 

Have  I  stumbled  upon  just  here  ? 

This  hedge  winding  along  the  highway 

I  have  somewhere  seen  before  now 

And  from  its  matted  greenery 

Have  plucked  a  leaf  as  I  do  this, 

Raising  it  to  my  lips  to  smack  of  its  flavor. 

And  this  same  gate  I  have  oped  pushing  inward, 

Many  a  year  ago,  it  seems. 

Yet  I  stood  never  upon  this  spot  before 

In  waking  consciousness. 

See  this  flower-hemmed  walk ! 

Hark  to  its  pebbly  patter  under  my  tread ! 

And  yon  rounded  clump  of  roses 

Gushing  red  to  the  bountiful  kisses 

Of  the  prolific  sun  of  the  springtide ! 

(155) 


156     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

I  am  only  repeating  myself  in  all  this ; 

Why  should  I  hither  be  brought 

To  live  over  what  I  once  lived — 

Where,  I  wonder? 

But  look!  the  identical  edifice 

With  its  broad  stone  steps,  fluted  columns, 

And  spacious  veranda  of  open  prospect ! 

I  see  it  rise  up  from  my  soul, 

The  original  image 

Again  in  my  prototypal  New  Salem. ' ' 

So  Lincoln  jetted  his  words  to  the  sunshine 

Tapping  his  own  Artesian  fountain 

In  the  brooding  depths  of  memory. 

With  a  small  escort  of  horsemen 

He  listed  to  see  a  bit  of  the  land 

That  lay  around  Petersburg. 

Thus  for  several  miles  he  journeyed 

Scanning  the  marks  of  the  war 

As  writ  on  the  face  of  the  country. 

Of  a  sudden  he  rode  mid  a  landscape 

Familiar  in  aspect, 

As  if  he  had  known  it  from  youth. 

The  fence,  the  yard,  the  garden  he  viewed, 

Yet  strangely  felt  it  to  be  a  review, 

The  prospect  shifted  to  retrospect, 

And  with  each  object  of  vision 

Kan  an  under-current  of  revision, 


THE  LADY  EULALIA  LOVELACE.     157 

So  that  all  his  outer  cognition 

Fell  at  once  swallowed  up 

In  a  far-off  inner  recognition, 

Which  still  he  could  not  identify. 

But  when  he  came  to  see  the  full  front 

Of  the  lordly  colonial  mansion 

Which  centered  the  landscape, 

There  rose  a  sun-up  of  reminiscence ; 

He  knew  just  where  he  had  been  long  since 

In  its  hospitable  presence. 

So  he  said  to  himself 

Mid  a  concourse  of  feelings  recurrent, 

Which  he  had  felt  many  years  before : 

"I  have  often  ascended  these  steps 

As  I  am  doing  just  now; 

I  have  knocked  at  this  door, 

Aye  this  very  door  with  its  bright  brass  knocker 

And  have  stood  waiting  under  this  lintel 

A  thousand  miles  from  here 

And  ten  thousand  days  from  now, 

On  Sangamon  Hill,  I  can  remember, 

Where  I  pre-enacted  unconscious 

These  actions  of  mine  to-day, 

Even  this  stopping  to  wait, 

And  fore-told  myself  thus, 

Quite  to  the  tread  and  the  gesture. 

How  I  seem  imitating  myself ! 


158    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PATtT  FIRST. 

But  here  follows  the  next  in  order. ' ' 

The  black  woman-servant  opened  the  door 

Peeringly  at  the  knock ; 

She  too,  with  head-dress  of  flaming  bandanna 

Had  often  done  the  same  service 

To  the  youth  Abraham  Lincoln, 

She  or  her  dark-faced  counterpart, 

When  he  used  to  call  at  the  mansion 

Of  the  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace. 

The  President,  asking  to  see  the  mistress, 
Entered  into  the  parlor  circumspecting ; 
How  he  looked  about  him  in  wonder ! 
For  there  too  he  had  been  before, 
Perchance  in  a  dream  of  previous  days, 
Or  it  might  have  been  in  another  life. 
But  things  the  same  to  the  senses 
Different  seem  in  meaning  now ! 
Heirlooms  of  English  pattern 
Centuries  backward  in  time, 
The  gentle  family's  coat  of  arms 
With  heraldic  emblems  of  honor, 
And  little  keepsakes  of  pottery 
And  grotesque  porcelain 
Divulged  the  owner 's  taste  and  class ; 
Old  pictures  still  hung  on  the  walls, 
Visaging  ancestors  high-born  and  haughty, 
The  cavaliers  and  the  lofty  dames 


THE  LADY  EULALTA  LOVELACE.  159 

Of  the  times  antique. 

Trinkets  of  silver  and  gold  had  been  but  were  not, 

Having  been  snapped  up  as  prizes 

By  the  war's  forager,  blue  and  gray, 

With  impartial  thievery. 

But  the  decorated  prayer-book 

Of  the  Anglican  Church  lay  untouched, 

With  King  Charles'  medallion, 

Hinting  old  history  over  the  sea. 

Lincoln  glanced  keen  at  the  aged  things 

With  a  new  commentary : 

1  '  Still  that  fight  of  the  Cavalier  and  Puritan 

For  this  young  hemisphere ! 

The  ideal  here  is  aristocratic,  English, 

Against  democratic  America, 

And  this  war  is  a  turn  of  it 

In  ever-recurring  sequence. 

Yet  I  have  to  note  as  most  prominent 

That  pictured  officer  yonder, 

Having  one  wall  to  himself 

In  blue  uniform   epauletted  and  sworded ; 

The  same  I  was  wont  to  look  on 

In  the  drawing-room  at  New  Salem 

Of  hallowed  memory. ' ' 

Then  his  eye  dropped  to  the  table 

Where  he  saw  another  familiar  memento — 


160    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

An  old  album,  which  he  threw  open ; 

His  first  look  was  caught  by  two  autographs 

Together  side  by  side  interwound 

In  many  a  flourish  of  pencraft, 

As  if  locking  their  tender  curves  of  arms — 

His  own  and  Ann  Rutledge's. 

He  sank  back  into  his  chair 

Remembering  the  when  and  the  where 

Of  the  dear  other  days 

While  the  seas  swelled  over  his  eyes 

In  the  hurricane  of  his  heart. 

The  gracious  lady  of  the  mansion 

Had  entered  the  drawing-room 

In  the  dignity  of  silence 

Quite  unnoticed  of  her  rapt  visitor, 

And  near  him  stood  as  if  waiting, 

While  he  sighed  the  old  tale  to  himself : 

"Ah  well  do  I  know  the  house,  the  room, 

And  the  central  glory,  the  mistress, 

Famed  for  her  kindness  to  all  suffering 

And  for  her  service  of  sympathy 

To  lovers,  to  us  twain, 

The  very  children  of  Fate ! 

Would  that  I  might  face  to  face  in  this  room 

Behold  her  once  more — 

The  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace ! ' ' 

He  sprang  up  at  the  name 

With  its  musical  echo  through  hours  far-away 

Of  reverberant  memories 


THE  LADY  EULALIA  LOVELACE.     161 

Attuning  life 's  holiest  thrills : 

There  stood  before  him  the  Lady  herself, 

Paled  to  features  angelic  with  years, 

And  with  time's  sorrows. 

Still  the  former  lines  shone  out 

Through  the  white  tender  wrinkles  traced 

By  life 's  hardest  renunciation. 

This  was  her  early  Virginia  home 

And  that  of  her  high-bred  ancestors, 

To  whose  estate  she  had  returned 

Nearly  three  decades  ago, 

From  her  residence  on  the  frontier, 

The  palaced  hill  of  the  Sangamon 

Where  lay  Lincoln's  idyllic  world, 

Of  which  she  was  the  Queen-mother. 

Her  husband  had  been  officer 

In  the  old  National  army, 

Had  taken  part  in  the  Indian  wars 

Along  the  wild  borderland, 

To  wrhich  he  had  brought  his  young  wife 

From  her  old  Virginia  home 

To  dare  the  new  life  of  the  West. 

There  he  built  her  a  mansion 

On  the  point  of  a  prairie  hillock 

Overlooking  the  Sangamon  and  New  Salem, 

With  a  hospitable  air  which  deigned 

An  obliging  smile  of  primacy. 

That  structure  was  copy  exact 


162     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Along  with,  its  hedge-rows  and  flowers, 

Of  her  ancient  family  residence 

Near  the  royal  river  James, 

A  centuried  home  of  memory 

In  annals  of  first  Virginia. 

But  farther  back  runs  the  history, 

To  a  manor  of  old  England 

With  its  mansion  of  hoar  gentility 

And  welcoming  portico  lordly  columnar, 

Which  had  shipped  across  the  Atlantic, 

Overlooking  the  Sangamon  from  the  Severn 

In  its  circuit  of  the  globe — 

Meanwhile  weaving  itself  on  the  way 

Into  the  life  of  young  Abraham  Lincoln, 

Whose  golden  secret  of  first  love, 

She  had  recognized  in  both  hearts, 

Herself  well  witting  of  love. 

But  here  she  stands  saluting  her  guest 

With  ironical  tinge  of  high-bred  banter 

Which  rippled  a  smile  through  the  lines 

Of  her  deeply  sorrowed  features : 

"So  our  story-telling  rail-splitter, 

The  darling  wag  of  the  Sangamon, 

And  of  its  leveled  prairies 

Has  risen  to  be  the  towering  President 

Of  the  whole  United  States, 

And  the  conqueror  too  of  Virginia, 


THE  LADY  EULALIA  LOVELACE.  163 

The  ancestress  stately  of  great  men, 

Even  of  you — not  the  least. 

Along  with  her,  let  me  confess, 

I  and  mine  have  gone  down  life 's  ladder 

While  you  have  mounted  dizzily. 

Still  a  most  hearty  welcome  hitherward, 

Hail  to  your  gentle  benevolent  presence ! ' ' 

Lincoln's  voice  melted  to  a  tremulous  solace 

As  he,  tendering  tearful  his  eyes,  replied: 

"Be  of  good  cheer,  my  Lady 

You  will  be  comforted 

And  your  Virginia  will  worthier  rise 

From  her  discipline ; 

I  have  helped  her  even  unwilling, 

Perchance  have  saved  her  from  her  own  fate, 

And  you  I  hope  yet  to  bless — 

You  not  un willing. " 

Lady  Eulalia  tuned  more  pleasantly 

Her  voice  and  her  face 

As  she  started  backward  recalling  the  past : 

"Yes,  you  center  the  circle  for  me 

Of  the  little  New  Salem  world, 

Whose  largest  event  on  my  memory  blooms 

When  you  with  the  sword  were  girded 

Of  the  chivalrous  Eutledges 

By  the  hand  of  the  young  lovely  Ann 

Their  high-bred  daughter. 


164     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

I  felt  then  the  forewarning  throb 

As  from  a  glowering  Heaven  over  the  land, 

When  you  spoke  with  a  far-off  glance 

That  you  might  have  to  march  the  other  road, 

Away  from  Black  Hawk 's  country ; 

And  the  crowd  shouted :    You  be  our  leader ! 

How  often  have  I  called  up  that  village  scene 

Pre-figuring  all  of  the  mighty  present 

With  you  as  its  head  and  its  heart ! 

It  rose  in  my  revery  forthright 

Just  as  you  rapped  at  the  door, 

With  a  knock  sounding  backward  till  then, 

For  I  had  heard  you  were  here 

In  'this  our  Petersburg. ' ' 

Lincoln  sat  brooding  before  her 

In  a  responsive  rapture  of  mood 

As  she  went  on  dreamily  fabling : 

1  'I  feel  that  I  then  forelived 

Many  a  turn  of  my  after-life 

In  that  oracular  short-lived  New  Salem, 

A  town  presageful  of  destiny 

Unto  all  its  people, 

And  0  sir,  to  you." 

Lincoln  mused  a  pensive  reply : 

"That  village's  soul  was  born  to  be 

An  intimation  of  what  is  coming, 

A  gleam  of  eternal  reflection; 


THE  LADY  EULALIA  LOVELACE.     165 

It  ordained  me,  a  drifting  lad, 
Into  my  future  career, 
Unfolding  straight  from  then  till  now, 
Yet  with  many  a  turn  back  into  itself 
Not  only  in  memory  but  in  deed." 

The  Lady  arose  and  unlocked  a  casket 

From  which  she  took  a  package  of  letters : 

11  These  I  have  kept  as  your  fortune's  foretokens, 

Addressed  to  me  outwardly  from  Vandalia, 

But  inwardly  to  a  young  lady, 

When  you  as  a  youthful  legislator 

Had  gone  thither  in  hope; 

They  reveal  your  tide  at  its  turn 

Preluding  your  life 's  whole  drama 

Even  until  to-day, 

Perchance  hinting  the  final  scene 

To  be  enacted  to-morrow; 

Only  yesterday  I  was  reading  in  them, 

Thinking  of  your  arrival  hither, 

And  its  daring  fulfilment. 

I  glimpsed  again  the  mulberry  tree  in  bloom, 

And  the  seat  deftly  plaited  of  grapevines 

Made  just  for  two  under  the  leaves — 

Love's  half-hidden  trysting-place 

Which  I  could  spy  from  my  upper  window, 

And  the  happy  pair  embowered." 


166     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

Lincoln's  eye  misted  suddenly 

While  his  softened  syllables  cadenced  his  heart : 

"My  most  blissful  moment  of  life 

And  yet  the  most  fateful ! 

Loftiest  joy  of  the  earth 

Sistered  with  deepest  sorrow! 

That  I  know  as  my  lot : 

Whomever  I  love  is  torn  from  me, 

My  whole  affection  engulfs,  entombs ! 

It  has  always  slain  my  dearest  and  best ! 

I  have  become  afraid  of  my  love, 

It  makes  the  loved  one  tragic, 

And  its  dark  demonic  companion 

Is  Death.'' 

Thus  the  distant  chord  of  the  old  Fate 
Vibrated  mightily  in  the  present — 
Through  the  cycled  years  intervening. 
The  Lady's  heart  quivered  to  words: 
Deeply  sympathetic  in  echo : 
"You  are  not  alone  in  your  lot, 
The  wife  feels  it  and  the  mother ; 
My  fondest,  the  youth  of  my  early  love, 
Was  bloodily  slain  by  the  Indian 
In  soldier's  service  on  your  frontier; 
There  hangs  his  picture,  you  know  it  outside, 
But  here  within  he  still  lives. 
Two  infant  boys  he  left  me, 


THE  LADY  EULALIA  LOVELACE.     167 

Dearest  copies  of  himself 

Whom  I  brought  back  to  the  East 

From  the  rude  Western  borderland, 

To  be  reared  in  their  ancestral  home. 

But  through  them  I  have  been  deluged 

With  the  ever-redoubling  sorrows  of  a  mother 

In  this  terrible  war. 

One  of  them  fell  in  his  blood  at  Gettysburg 

Mid  the  deadly  charge  of  Pickett ; 

He  was  left  dying  on  the  field 

And  rests  in  an  unknown  Northern  grave. 

My  other,  my  last  hope,  was  lately  shot 

In  the  battle  at  Fort  Stedman 

Over  yonder  almost  under  my  eyes; 

But  he  was  not  fatally  hurt,  I  hear, 

And  lies  in  a  Richmond  hospital 

On  the  way  of  recovery. 

Would  that  the  mother  might  see  him  again 

And  nurse  him  with  her  love ! ' ' 

Lincoln  seized  his  note-book 

And  scribbled  down  a  brief  order 

Signed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 

And  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Armies; 

Handing  it  to  her,  he  said : 

"Take  that  and  follow  its  directions, 

It  will  bring  you  to  a  worthy  old  man, 

Whom  you  know  from  the  past ; 


168     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND—PART  FIRST. 

He  will  tell  you  about  the  last  moments 

And  the  resting-place  of  your  elder  son 

Fallen  far  away  in  the  Northland. ' ' 

The  Lady  took  the  paper  and  glanced, 

When  she  was  moved  to  a  deeper  strain: 

"Let  me  confess  to  you  my  repentance ! 

My  return  to  Virginia  was  a  mistake, 

From  your  free-born  North- West; 

I  have  often  regretted  the  step 

Which  was  urged  upon  me 

By  my  kindred  here,  good  but  old-timed, 

And  somewhat  out  of  tune  with  themselves. 

I  never  could  quite  get  back  into  line 

And  feel  at  home  in  the  ancient  tradition, 

After  breathing  that  buoyant  air  of  yours 

There  in  the  Westerland 

Unladen  of  the  past. 

Nor  could  I  like  slavery  again 

Whose  day  of  reckoning  wrathful 

I  felt  to  be  not  far  away ; 

And  I  still  loved  the  whole  country, 

Aye,  just  the  Union, 

In  whose  service  my  husband  had  died, 

Steeping  with  blood  his  uniform  blue, 

Which  I  ever  keep  before  me 

In  his  portrait  yonder  caressing  me, 

As  I  caress  it. 


THE  LADY  EULALIA  LOVELACE.  169 

Hark!  it  speaks  to  me  now 

In  a  silent  look  of  prophetic  sorrow." 

Lincoln's  eyes  fell  to  a  muse  as  he  turned, 

And  his  tongue  attuned  his  reply: 

"Yes,  many  of  us  from  the  young  North- West 

Are  paying  a  visit  of  duty 

To  our  old  political  mother,  God  bless  her, 

By  some  tie  drawn  to  her  deeper  than  knowledge." 

Whereupon  continued  the  Lady 

Overflowing  with  reminiscence  again : 

"That  thought  you  flashed  out  long  ago 

In  a  speech  before  your  fellow- villagers ; 

I  heard  it  as  I  was  standing  once 

On  the  porch  of  a  neighbor ; 

You  hailed  the  migration  rolling  westward 

And  raptured  a  startling  apostrophe : 

'You  all  will  be  turning  around  with  the  years, 

Going  back  to  those  first  States  whence  you  came, 

Transforming  them  into  your  image  of  freedom, 

Working  the  old  over  into  the  new, 

Re-making  even  the  sovereign  Law 

And  transmuting  the  Slave-State  to  Free-State; 

Thee  too,  Mother  Virginia, 

May  I  yet  visit  thee  freed ! 7 

So  you  f antasied  far  above  our  low  heads ; 

How  well  do  I  understand  it  now ! 

You  are  yourself  the  highest  example, 


170     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  FIRST. 

You  here  in  my  presence, 

Having  returned  to  your  grandfather's  State 

Re-bearing  it  into  the  Union, 

And  making  it  free, 

Aye,  enfranchising  me." 

11  Richmond  is  fallen"  rose  a  shout  outside, 

Whereat  Lincoln  sprang  up  from  his  day-dream, 

And  threw  open  the  door ; 

From  his  mounted  escort  sounded  the  cry : 

11  Richmond  is  fallen!  news  just  come!" 

Flamed  up  Lincoln  responsive : 

"I  must  go  thither  at  once 

And  take  my  seat  in  the  fallen  Capitol 

To  stay  the  swoop  of  destruction, 

Helping  perchance  to  renew  it 

With  all  of  the  South." 

The  Lady  clutched  fast  the  precious  paper 

Given  her  by  the  President, 

Who  seeing  her  motherly  act  and  look 

Tuned  his  voice  sympathetic: 

"We  shall  find  each  other  at  Richmond 

By  the  cot  of  your  boy  convalescent ; 

We  shall  look  back  again  at  the  Past, 

As  we  saw  it  in  little  New  Salem  creative, 

Mightily  bearing  the  Present, 

The  atom  waxing  the  giant. 

Good-bye  till  then — I  must  be  off 

With  these  troopers  on  a  gallop, 

For  Richmond  is  fallen. ' ' 


art 

The  Fall  of  Richmond. 

PROLOGUE. 

"Richmond  is  fallen!"  floated  down  the  James 

In  pulses  thousandfold  upon  the  air, 

And  eddied  round  and  round  in  jovial  whirl 

Past  every  headland  of  the  stream  and  valley, 

Tongued  with  the  myriad  talk  of  heady  Rumor, 

Until  it  grew  a  buzzing  swarmery 

Winging  round  Lincoln's  hat  at  Petersburg. 

The  President  spoke  up  a  note  of  power : 

"Yes,  thither  I  must  hurry  off  to  bear 

The  Presidency  whole  and  making  whole 

Of  these  United  States  now  integrate, 

For  broken  is  the  battling  stubborn  bound, 

And  I  have  crossed  at  last  the  Fatal  Line, 

Just  here  upon  this  very  spot  to-day. 

At  Richmond,  the  revolted  Capital 

(in) 


172   LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

I  must  install  myself  Chief  Magistrate 

In  place  of  the  Executive  now  fled, 

And  dedicate  the  Capitol  anew 

Bringing  my  presence  of  authority, 

Which  means  the  Nation  sovereign  once  more, 

And  aye,  the  greater  boon,  enfranchisement." 

While  Lincoln  waiting  sat  upon  the  bank 

He  felt  a  change  revolving  in  himself, 

As  he  gazed  at  the  crinkling  curls  of  water 

Which  crisped  before  him  on  the  speeding  James; 

He  harked  its  babbling  metamorphosis 

And  dreamed  himself  into  a  spectacle 

In  which  he  saw  the  hoary  River-God 

Kise  out  the  stream-bed  to  an  airy  form 

Toning  the  impress  of  a  voice  within ; 

''Hail  Lincoln,  now  my  President, 

But  not  before,  till  this  day's  Crossing  done! 

In  freedom's  land  I  have  been  long  in  bonds; 

Eight  generations  have  I  witnessed  here 

Since  that  first  slave-ship  anchored  over  there 

Upon  a  spot  within  thine  eyesight 's  stretch ! 

Hark  to  the  roistering  ripple  of  my  freedom, 

As  my  full  waters  gush  their  hidden  heart 

Saluting  thee  their  Liberator  too." 

The  still  pulsations  of  the  words  within 
Beat  on  the  chords  of  Lincoln's  memory, 


PROLOGUE.  173 

Stirring  his  soul  to  a  response  unvoiced : 

' '  0  stream,  oft  have  I  felt  and  glimpsed  your  truth, 

Dumb  nature  too  aspires  for  liberty, 

The  goal  pursued  of  all  created  things. 

But  that  which  hammers  me  with  thumps  of  wonder 

Is  your  great  change  of  spirit  toward  me  now 

From  what  you  showed  when  I  was  here  before, 

Paying  a  visit  to  McClellan's  army 

Where  it  sank  beaten  back  upon  your  banks, 

Betokening  a  world's  paralysis. 

How  surly  looked  you  then  with  scowl  and  scoff 

As  I,  bowed  deathward  by  that  huge  repulse, 

Groaned  on  your  shore  of  wrath  and  watched  your 

waves 

Aristocratic  with  disdain  of  me ! 
Such  was  the  greeting  of  aversion  then 
But  now  your  look  bears  to  me  e'en  a  prayer, 
Which  supplicates  me  for  a  fresh  relief ; 
Speak  out  in  your  soft  undulations  tuned 
To  thrill  me  to  your  aspiration  new, 
For  my  soul  sweetly  hears  your  river-notes 
Breathing  on  it  like  worded  syllables." 

Whereat  there  rose  a  murmurous  overflow 
Which  with  the  wavelets  rippled  into  speech : 
"0  Liberator,  heal  me  one  and  whole, 
Integral  make  this  my  young  liberty ! 
For  up  my  stream  still  lies  a  thralling  bound 


174    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

Which  I  beseech  thee  to  forge  through  and  quell. 
Down  here  within  thy  presence  I  am  free, 
My  fetters  on  both  banks  of  me  fall  broken, 
Ungyved  my  limbs  are  sporting  in  their  hope, 
But  yonder  up  my  bed  at  Drewry's  Bluff 
The  shackles  still  enslave  my  active  flow, 
There  o'er  my  flood  is  drawn  the  Fatal  Line 
Which  you  must  cleave  and  cross  ere  you  reach 
Richmond. ' ' 

The  strong  petition  tallied  Lincoln's  mood, 

It  touched  the  very  center  of  his  thought 

And  probed  the  living  pith  of  the  whole  war, 

Intoned  with  the  affectioned  voice  of  prayer; 

That  was  to  him  a  Presence  unforeknown 

Surprising  him  upon  the  open  strand, 

Whereat  bedumbed  he  waited  for  himself 

To  take  possession  of  his  vocables ; 

But  ere  he  could  upgather  speech, 

The  spirit  lisped  a  fresh  address  beseeching : 

1 '  0  President,  I  am  but  half  disthralled, 

Half  slave,  half  free,  I  am  divided  still ! 

The  ancient  rent  in  our  first  Union 

Is  stamped  upon  the  very  water  of  me 

As  it  comes  dashing  down  my  channeled  body; 

0  free  me  as  thou  hast  already  freed 

Thy  grander  Mississippi  in  the  West, 

Whose  spirit  once  appeared  in  prayer  to  thee 


PROLOGUE.  175 

As  I  do  now,  the  genius  of  the  James, 

Imploring  thee  in  fervid  orison 

To  reave  it  of  its  rended  river-soul 

And  to  forever  heal  it  to  be  whole. 

Lengthwise  that  stream  its  larger  scission  ran, 

While  mine  cleaves  crosswise  on  my  ruffled  front ; 

But  still  the  higher  franchise  is  the  same, 

Both  acts  are  one  supreme  deliverance ; 

And  let  me  too  foresay  what  I  presage : 

This  is  the  last  node  of  the  Fatal  Line, 

Which  thou  wilt  ever  be  invoked  to  break ; 

On  land  thou  hast  already  leaped  the  bound 

Spurring  thy  steed  across  at  Petersburg, 

But  now  through  me  thou  must  mount  up  the  way 

Which  leads  to  the  all-broken  Capital, 

Whither  thou  art  to  bear  thy  Personality. " 

The  President  arose  to  his  full  height 
In  honor  of  the  River's  majesty, 
Voicing  the  weal  of  his  authority : 
"I  know  me  come  to  make  you  whole, 
And  save  your  valley  from  its  servitude, 
To  lift  you  out  your  halfness  I  now  haste. 
Captain  where  is  my  boat  ?    I  must  away, 
The  little  fleet  to  guide  and  guard  get  ready." 
Still  through  the  clatter  of  the  heaving-off 
A  voice  throbbed  from  the  palpitating  stream 
And  smote  the  deeper  man  to  will  its  word : 


176     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

11 0  President,  emancipate  me  too 
One  with  thy  mighty  river  of  the  West! 
Make  universal  here  thy  freedom's  deed, 
And  integral  weld  my  young  liberty, 
Aye  crown  thy  final  mastery  of  Fate 
Bursting  my  fettered  bound,  0  President/' 


I. 


Up  the  James. 

See  the  fluttering  flotilla 

Wheeling  away  in  glee  from  the  wharf, 

As  it  mounts  on  the  stream  like  a  steed 

To  race  up  the  river  to  Richmond, 

Flaunting  its  flags  in  the  breeze, 

That  it  make  the  won  goal  of  the  war, 

In  patriotic  ectasy. 

The  center  of  busily  puffing  smoke-stacks 

Is  the  little  steam-pushed  craft, 

In  whose  center  uprighted  again 

Stands  the  tall  President 

Eagerly  eyeing  ahead  from  the  deck 

Over  the  stretch  of  the  gossipy  wavelets, 

Which  seem  to  whisper  a  welcome, 

While  chattering  idly  among  themselves; 

As  he  gazed,  he  broke  into  words : 

(177) 


178    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

"This  is,  then,  the  great  fulfillment 

Of  the  Nation,  of  the  age,  even  of  me! 

"When  I  issued  that  first  Proclamation, 

Little  did  I  foresee  this  goal 

To  which  the  Powers  were  bearing  me  on, 

Directing  events  from  their  upper  conclave. 

To  them  I  have  been  going  to  school, 

Learning  their  supernal  decree 

In  the  fleeting  Now, 

God's  pupil  most  teachable — 

Methinks  I  have  learned  my  lesson ; 

And  may  I  not  say  to  myself, 

I  have  taught  it  in  turn  to  my  people." 

So  Lincoln  listened  a  moment 

To  himself  speaking  from  far-away 

Through  the  soul's  ventriloquism; 

Then  flinging  an  eye-shot  off  to  the  right 

He  saw  the  wooded  slopes  of  the  Malverns 

Breaking  out  into  laughter  of  April-green, 

As  if  rollicking  breezy  salutes 

To  the  President,  now  of  success. 

But  he  thought  of  the  carnage 

That  once  reddened  those  hill-sides, 

And  he  recalled  his  former  visit 

Not  two  years  since, 

Plunging  him  downward  into  the  cave 

Of  his  blackest  melancholy  j 


UP   THE  JAMES.  179 

Even  now  for  a  minute  the  nighting  goblin 
Fleeted  before  him  with  outsharpened  beak 
As  if  to  vampyre  him  again 
Into  its  pitiless  gloom. 

Still  he  whisked  off  the  wings  of  the  Hell-bird 
By  a  valorous  stroke  of  his  soul, 
Fighting  away  his  dread  Fury  of  life 
Which  rose  from  within  unawares. 

Turning  he  looked  up  the  river 

Toward  the  heaven-held  crown  of  his  labor, 

Now  beshone  with  hope's  sun  above, 

And  beflowered  with  love's  earth  below. 

But  look  again !  on  the  water  a  new  defiance ! 

A  row  of  piles  has  waylaid  the  stream 

Forbidding  its  passage ; 

Only  at  the  middle  oped  a  small  mouth 

Gaping  warily, 

Which  had  a  treacherous  look 

As  if  guarded  secretly  underneath 

By  unseen  explosives. 

Still  through  that  aperture's  jaws 

Suspected  of  treachery, 

All  the  vessels  must  pass  or  turn  back, 

Undone  of  their  journey. 

Again  the  River-God  hazily  rose 
Beside  Lincoln  up  from  a  ripple, 


180  LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

Seen  by  him  but  by  nobody  else, 
And  spake  in  a  full-flowing  voice 
Heard  by  him  but  by  nobody  else : 
"0  Liberator,  here  is  the  line  foretold 
Which  divides  me  in  twain  above,  below, 
Making  me  half  slave,  half  free ; 
That  scission  everywhere  in  our  land 
Thy  call  is  to  heal  whole 
By  thy  presence  remedial. 
0  President,  this  is  my  Fatal  Line 
Which  too  thou  art  to  transcend 
That  thou  be  fully  thine  own 
Capping  destiny 

On  the  Capitol's  height  at  Richmond. 
This  is  the  last  time  thou  need  cross  it 
Before  winning  the  prized  city, 
Which  else  will  crumble  to  ashes; 
See  now  the  Judgement's  flames — 
0  Liberator  save  it,  save  me ! ' ' 

Lincoln  distressful  shouted  aloud 

To  the  surprise  of  the  busy  by-standers : 

"Clear  me  thy  oracle,  Semblance  divine, 

Stay  and  tell  me  thy  ghostly  message, 

For  it  hits  mine  own  dark  foreboding 

Of  some  demonic  destroyer 

Now  kindling  his  work." 

But  the  vision  slid  away  thinning 


UP    THE   JAMES.  181 

Into  a  formless  fog-bank 

That  lay  asleep  on  the  river, 

Out  of  whose  feathery  cloud  as  a  bed 

Stretched  forth  an  arm  fisted, 

"Whose  forefinger  pointed  skyward  upstream 

At  a  serpentine  smoker  coiling  on  high 

Of  venomous  aspect, 

Lincoln  chilled  at  the  sudden  portent 

Which  kept  getting  huger  in  bulk 

And  shaping  itself  more  dragonish 

With  gesturing  menace  infernal. 

Soon  he  broke  out  to  the  Captain  on  deck : 

"Drive  your  boat  to  the  passage  and  through  it, 

I  must  haste  to  the  flaming  source 

Of  yonder  Hell  now  bursting  up  heavenward ; 

That  smoky  serpentine  Satan 

Is  spiraling  over  Eichmond 

Which  is  feeding  it  with  conflagration. 

Methinks  it  pictures  the  Arch-fiend 

With  his  murkiest  cohorts 

Devouring  the  Capital. 

I  must  save  it — to  the  rescue — 

Here  our  craft  comes  first — let  the  rest  follow — 

Wedge  through  the  narrow  mouth, 

Split  the  barrier,  mauling  it  with  your  boat — 

Swifter,  0  Captain. " 


182    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

But  the  vessel  was  trapped  by  the  sides, 

Clamped  fast  in  the  jaws  of  the  entrance, 

As  it  swung  around  in  the  current 

And  closed  tight  the  opening, 

So  that  the  lesser  boats  could  not  pass 

To  the  upper  stream. 

"Turn  back,"  cry  Captain  and  crew, 

Thinking  of  the  President's  safety. 

"Turn  back — greater  peril  ahead, 

Torpedoes  are  strewn  here  under  the  water, 

Sharpshooters  infest  yonder  hills, 

Guerillas  can  swarm  out  from  the  shore 

And  capture  the  speedless  row-boat 

Which  alone  is  now  possible. ' ' 

But  Lincoln  terribly  thundered  his  voice 

Wording  the  topmost  command 

Of  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

"Fetch  out  the  row-boat, 

And  man  it  with  sailors  as  oarsmen, 

I  must  dare  this  Crossing  just  here, 

The  final  node  of  the  Fatal  Line 

Which  has  so  long  withstood  me  in  battle. 

Then  forward  I  say,  to  Eichmond ! 

Once  more  and  the  last! 

I  would  take  it  now  with  a  leaky  skiff, 

And  save  it." 

A  barge  was  lowered  into  the  current, 
Twelve  sailors  handling  oars  leaped  aboard 


UP    THE   JAMES.  183 

With  the  whole  United  States 

Personed  in  Abraham  Lincoln, 

And  began  pulling  upstream. 

Meanwhile  the  spiraling  columns  of  smoke 

Rising  over  the  city  of  Judgment, 

Roll  denser,  larger,  more  vicious, 

Lapping  red  tongues  of  angry  blazes  skyward 

As  from  the  mouth  of  a  nameless  monster, 

Devouring  with  Inferno's  fiery  gorge. 

" Hurry,"  cries  the  impatient  President, 

I  fear  it  will  perish  ere  I  may  come, 

Perchance  by  its  very  act, 

From  self-destruction  it  I  would  rescue; 

Faster,  faster,  my  lads, 

Let  me  put  my  strength  to  this  oar." 

Then  in  his  huge  brawny  rail-splitting  knuckles 

The  President  seized  the  helve 

From  a  weakened  tired-out  sailor, 

And  dipped  the  long  blade  in  the  water 

Heavily  heaving  forward  the  boat, 

Whereat  all  the  other  oarsmen 

Followed  the  high  example, 

As  if  filled  with  a  fresh   influx  of  power, 

Far  greater  than  their  own  little  selves, 

And  overflowing  from  supernal  sources. 

"Hold!  danger  ahead!  keep  close  to  the  shore!" 

Suddenly  shouts  the  outlooking  pilot, 


184    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND—PART  SECOND. 

As  a  dark  smoking  hulk  of  a  boat 

Floated  to  sight  from  upstream 

In  the  distance  descried. 

Under  the  spy-glass  it  looked  unmanned, 

Perchance  sent  adrift  for  mischief, 

With  scattered  blazes  starting  to  creep  out 

Through  its  sides  and  its  deck. 

"An  infernal  machine  sent  to  destroy  us, 

Let  us  wheel  round  at  once 

And  bear  you  out  of  its  peril's  reach," 

Rose  a  cry  in  common, 

"Not  to  be  thought  of,"  yelled  Lincoln, 

In  the  fiercest  growl  ever  heard  from  his  throat, 

' '  This  is  the  test  of  my  life, 

The  Line  must  be  crossed  here  too  by  me." 

But  in  response  to  that  last  word, 

The  mightily  emphasized  me, 

There  followed  a  rumbling  explosion, 

Pieces  flew  in  the  air 

The  crew  ducked  down  to  their  benches, 

A  fragment  whizzed  overhead  to  the  stream, 

And  splashed  up  a  ripple  of  water, 

Not  far  from  Lincoln's  raised  oar-blade, 

And  the  floater  whole  no  longer  was  seen, 

Only  some  bits  of  its  bobbing  corpse — 

What  was  it  ?    Nobody  hurt — 

But  what  could  it  mean  ? 


UP    THE   JAMES.  185 

" Forward  more  swiftly  than  ever," 

Cried  Lincoln,  smiting  deeper  his  oar, 

And  lurching  the  boat  far  ahead, 

As  he  puffed  his  breath  into  speech : 

' '  What  is  it,  you  ask  ?    I  soothsay  it 

The  foresent  omen  of  self-destruction 

Borne  me  to  bear  a  message 

Of  what  is  happening  yonder, 

In  a  world  under  doom." 

Still  the  dun  dragons  of  conflagration 

Spat  their  spiteful  sparks  athwart  the  blue  dome, 

As  if  scintillating  vengeance  at  God, 

"While  some  of  them  fell  on  the  boat, 

And  one  angrily  flew  at  Lincoln's  tall  hat 

Singeing  its  silken  gloss, 

And  then  dropped  extinct  at  his  feet. 

But  the  lambent  wrath  of  those  serpent  tongues 

Licked  upward  to  gorgeous  fire-works, 

In  a  malignant  carnival  feasting 

With  all  the  fiends  of  Tophet. 

Many  were  the  shadowy  shapes 

Seen  by  the  sympathetic  eye 

Coming  and  going  on  the  black  panorama : 

Groups  of  soldiers  vanishing  dreamily, 

Regiments  marching  into  the  gap  of  chaos, 

Whole  armies  forming  and  fading  mid  abysses 

Which  cleaved  under  their  feet ; 


186    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

A  festival  of  destruction 

Was  eating  up  the  doomed  Capital. 

Still  the  oar  blades  kept  splashing  merrily, 

And  the  boat  rocked  nearing  the  wharf, 

When  Lincoln  again  looked  up  at  the  clouds 

Writhing  and  rolling  and  coiling  and  crushing — 

So  many  demons  grotesquing  death, 

Making  Heaven's  dome  into  Hell's  crater  upturned. 

Behold  the  flames  languishing, 

And  the  dark  dragons  float  away  undone, 

Exhausted  or  perchance  sated  of  prey. 

Now  the  smoke  curls  upward  amain 

Without  the  dare  of  its  former  malice, 

While  the  city  beacons  its  first  glimpse, 

Tokening  still  itself  to  be 

Unto  the  anxious  President. 

But  as  he  sharpens  his  eye  intently,  see!  see! 

Another  image  slowly  limns  itself 

On  the  last  murky  cloud  departing, 

As  if  under  doom. 

He  shuddered,  he  shrank, 

But  only  for  a  moment; 

He  knows  it  well,  it  is  himself, 

His  counterpart  often  seen  hitherto 

Even  in  the  White-House, 

And  its  meaning  he  forebodes 


UP    THE   JAMES.  187 

As  it  fades  off  wistfully  to  the  Beyond, 
Like  very  mortality. 

Now  the  boat  strikes,  the  hawser  is  handed, 

All  get  ready  to  leap  from  the  benches 

To  the  perilous  bank, 

Sworded  and  pistoled  and  gunned, 

To  guard  the  President  saving  thee 

Against  thyself,  0  Richmond. 


II. 


Under  Doom. 

Go  back  with  me,  0  Reader, 

Some  overfull  hours  of  the  time 

And  look  on  Lincoln's  prime  antagonist; 

'Tis  President  Davis  at  Richmond, 

As  he  sets  out  for  church  of  a  Sunday  morn 

Delicious  with  April's  balm 

And  the  hope  of  Heaven. 

But  mark  the  telling  concurrence ! 

At  the  same  hour  the  other  President, 

Abraham  Lincoln,  had  mounted  the  Crossing 

Of  the  Fatal  Line,  now  breached  and  bared, 

Encircling  Petersburg. 

The  air  was  heavily  laden 

With  rumors  of  bale, 

Disaster  kept  streaming  into  the  city, 

From  the  lost  field  of  Five  Forks, 

(188) 


UNDER  DOOM.  189 

The  church-bells  tolled  moodily  earthward 

As  from  a  frowning  God. 

But  President  Davis  stemmed  the  lowering  hour, 

With  tense-featured  resolution, 

Though  he  seemed  to  jerk  suddenly 

In  a  telepathic  twitch 

As  he  looked  up  at  the  Capitol, 

Dimly  conscious  of  the  pivotal  hap 

Stinging  him  out  of  the  distance, 

For  he  boded  a  lurking  presentiment 

Of  what  Lincoln  had  done  at  last — 

Gone  over  the  Crossing. 

Then  he  addressed  sternly  himself: 

"I  shall  not  yield — never! 

Independence  must  win  for  my  South, 

I  too  shall  arm  the  slaves, 

Gaining  their  hearts  with  the  promise  of  freedom, 

From  the  masters  who  own  them. 

Separation  is  ever  my  watchword, 

Slavery  I  no  longer  care  for, 

The  dividing  bound  between  the  States 

I  shall  yet  furrow  as  deep  as  Hell, 

Enthroning  my  God  Disunion" — 

And  thus  he  entered  the  church. 

Meanwhile  the  other  folk  of  the  city 
Are  meditating  their  silent  way 


190    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

To  their  several  places  of  worship, 

Remarking  no  laugh  of  the  leaves 

And  hearing  no  song-bird  of  spring 

Mid  the  fluttering  twigs  of  the  trees 

Through  the  crush  of  suspense; 

For  over  every  soul  seems  hanging 

The  menace  of  judgment-day 

About  to  befall. 

And  as  they  pass  the  Capitol  Square 

They  behold  an  uncanny  appearance: 

The  lofty  new  image  pedestaled 

Of  Richmond  herself  aerial, 

With  looks  agonized  of  penitence 

Yet  prayerfully  upturning 

As  if  before  the  Judge  Himself. 

Every  person  saw  the  semblance 

Presageful  of  destiny, 

For  it  was  his  own  individually 

While  the  common  work  of  all, 

A  soulful  statue  to  their  vision 

Yet  wrought  of  their  very  souls. 

President  Davis  rushed  by  it, 

Facing  its  icy  scowl  of  scorn 

Which  it  flung  down  vengefully  damning 

Him  as  its  primal  misfortune. 

How  different  was  the  people's  reception 

Of  his  Excellency, 

When  he  uprose  on  this  place 


UNDER  DOOM. 

Its  installed  first  President 

Mid  myriad-throated  acclamation. 

But  now  he  hurries  away 

Out  of  its  demonic  eye-shot  of  scath 

As  if  to  escape  to  the  sanctuary 

Beyond  its  unwholesome  glances, 

Taking  refuge  in  his  prayer-book, 

Conning  his  supplications  above 

To  the  Sovereign  of  the  Universe. 

But  hardly  had  he  looked  on  the  print 

"When  from  beneath  it  uprose  the  one  God 

Strangely  becoming  twain 

From  a  divine  look  of  unity 

Cloven  wrathfully  asunder: 

The  two  Gods  stood  forth  in  armored  anger 

Eager  to  test  in  fight  their  divinity, 

One  smaller  than  the  other, 

But  more  aggressive  and  spit-fiery; 

Each  flung  at  the  other  thunder  and  lightning 

With  furious  detonation  of  gunnery, 

Over  all  the  land  near  and  far. 

Between  them  was  drawn  a  blood-lit  line, 

Which  both  sought  in  vain  to  transgress, 

Each  repelling  the  other 

On  many  a  field  of  carnage, 

When  suddenly  the  one  Great  God 

Strode  across  the  crimson  boundary 


192    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

Overcoming  his  own  self-division, 

And  appeared  to  be  entering  Richmond. 

Yea,  he  is  approaching  the  church 

In  his  original  oneness, 

Oh !  he  passes  the  door  although  with  a  stoop, 

But  no  longer  divided  is  seen, 

Such  as  he  once  went  forth 

To  the  President's  vision. 

Behold,  he  comes  forward  to  the  same  pew 

Whose  occupant  is  praying, 

When  Jefferson  Davis  is  aware 

Of  the  one  supernal  Presence 

And  springs  up  as  if  to  defy  it, 

Even  saying  ' '  I  challenge  your  right. ' ' 

But  before  him  stands  a  gray-clad  officer 

Cloud-faced  with  his  news ; 

Clenching  the  jaws  in  strong  self-control, 

He  reaches  a  message  from  Lee : 

"My  line  is  broken  in  three  places, 

Let  there  be  no  delay, 

Abandon  the  capital  now." 

The  President  reads  it  stout-eyed, 

Without  one  tear's  relenting, 

And  doorward  starts  down  the  aisle 

In  a  suppressed  quickstep, 

Rushed  after  by  all  the  worshippers 

Who  had  forefelt  the  menacing  cataclysm. 


UNDER  DOOM.  193 

Soon  all  the  other  churches  were  vacant, 

And  the  people  surging  through  the  streets 

In  hysteric  horror  over  the  next  thing 

Through  their  very  ignorance. 

But  the  portentous  image  of  Richmond 

Holds  yet  upright  on  the  Public  Square, 

Seen  of  all  because  their  own  it  is  also, 

As  well  as  that  of  the  time. 

Look!  its  aspect  is  shifting 

Into  throes  of  cynical  desperation, 

It  seems  to  draw  from  its  side  a  weapon, 

Raising  it  towards  itself  for  a  stab, 

As  if  making  ready  for  self -infliction. 

To  the  fleeing  President  it  dares  whisper 

Its  crushing  disillusion: 

"When  you  first  came  hither  me  glorifying, 

I  dreamed  myself  the  dawning  Capital 

Of  this  whole  Continent, 

The  chief  city  of  the  world ; 

But  behold  what  you  have  made  me, 

Me,  the  proud  mistress  of  slaves 

Mistressed  now  by  my  own  slaves, 

So  that  I  curse  me  deserving  damnation. ' ' 

She  fetched  herself  a  passionate  blow 

As  if  at  her  own  judgment, 

With  herself  as  executioner, 


194    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

Retributive  of  her  godless  deed 
Of  apostasy  national. 

Meanwhile  the  President  lone  is  hurrying  off 

On  a  railroad  train, 

Having  shipped  his  government 

Toward  anywhere  Southward, 

Behind  the  last  fraying  fragment 

Of  Lee's  hungry  but  ever  valorous  army 

Still  seeking  to  piece  the  broken  line  of  Fate 

Under  the  very  pinch  of  Doomsday, 

And  winning  the  prize 

Of  bravest  soldiership 

Athwart  their  famishing  cause. 

But  forget  not  the  final  event 

Symbolizing  frankly  the  time 

In  bitter  irony  scoffing  disaster: 

Along  with  the  flying  Confederacy 

To  the  train  was  driven  the  swarthy  coffle-gang, 

Negroes  chained  together  for  sale, 

Now  hustled  off  Southward ; 

The  last  slave-pen  was  running  from  Richmond 

In  company  with  its  President  Davis; 

But  it  could  not  get  passage — no  room — 

So  it  dissolved  to  atomic  freedom  just  there, 

Never  again  to  be  fettered 

In  liberty's  land  undivided. 


UNDER  DOOM.  195 

But  what  is  this  appalling  command 
From  departed  authority  desperate, 
Bidding  the  rear-guard  remain  a  few  hours 
For  the  work  of  destruction  ? 
"Burn  the  government's  property: 
Warehouses  full  of  cotton  and  tobacco 
Arsenals  charged  with  powder  and  shell, 
The  war-craft  in  the  river, 
Set  all  afire,  and  leave  to  the  victors 
Ruin,  blank  ruin." 


III. 

The  Doom. 

Now  we  may  see  the  sinister  dragon 

Uncoiling  skyward  voluminous  folds, 

And  uprearing  its  murky  body 

Vibrant  with  hundreds  of  flaming  tongues 

And  with  venomous  serpentine  hisses 

Multitudinous  as  snake-haired  Medusa: 

Such  Lincoln  saw  from  his  boat 

While  he  was  borne  up  the  river 

"Watching  the  vengeful  cloud-wraiths  writhing 

Rebellious  over  Richmond. 

In  tense  perturbation  of  soul, 

For  he  longed  to  save  the  city  damned, 

Even  if  self-doomed, 

From  its  own  doom. 

Public  storehouses  first  were  kindled 

To  pitiless  conflagration, 

(196) 


THE  DOOM.  197 

While  the  winds  conspiring  with  flames 
Scattered  madly  blazing  cinders 
Over  the  innocent  house-tops, 
Which  began  to  crackle  and  blaze 
Unhindered  of  hands, 
For  authority  itself  was  burning, 
And  man's  civic  institution 
Drooped  helpless  to  ashes. 

Now  the  rabble  broke  loose 

From  the  grip  of  dominion's  dread  overhand 

Which  lay  paralytic; 

The  underworld  of  a  great  city, 

Aye  of  a  great  revolution, 

And  of  its  blood-letting  legions, 

At  the  most  violent  center  volcanic 

Belched  up  its  dregs  from  their  Stygian  haunts, 

Who  started  to  surge  through  the  streets 

In  a  frenzy  of  freedom 

Unbanded  of  order. 

Intoxication  now  added  its  fury; 

Barrels  of  liquor  were  seized  from  dram-shops 

And  emptied  into  the  gutters, 

Whence  it  was  dipped  and  drunk  by  the  mob; 

But  over  the  bedlam  hear  the  roar  of  loud  shots 

And  rapid  of  manifold  gunnery ; 

What  new  foe  is  attacking? 

'Tis  the  fired  arsenal  exploding  itself 


198    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

In  its  own  ammunition 

Of  powder  and  shell  and  bombs, 

Committing  suicide 

With  furious  reverberation — 

Terrible  trump  announcing  judgment. 

But  the  revelry  runs  on  madder — 

Stores  are  broken  open  and  rifled, 

Silks  and  broadcloths  aristocratic 

Are  strown  in  the  streets  and  trampled 

In  mere  lust  of  destruction. 

The  rearguard  of  the  fugitive  army 

Has  quitted  the  city  having  set  it  ablaze, 

And  leaving  it  lawless 

To  wreak  on  itself  its  own  damnation. 

For  behold  a  fresh  accession  from  Hell! 

Here  come  the  freed  jail-birds  clamorous 

"With  ill-omened  profanity, 

Calibans  cursing  all  order. 

And  on  their  heels  another  demoniac  throng 

Breaks  into  liberty 

Over  the  wall  of  the  penitentiary, 

Seething  revenge  against  laws  of  the  State 

As  their  foes  of  blood-feud; 

The  criminals  of  the  whole  Social  System, 

In  striped  suits  and  docked  hair 

Streak  viperous  with  uncanny  spots 

The  multitude  and  the  landscape, 


THE  DOOM.  199 

Gloating  in  half -naked  savagery : 

Yelling,  leaping,  grimacing,  scoffing, 

Malign  in  their  ecstasy 

As  fiends  mid  infernal  flames 

Hurrahing  for  Pandemonium, 

Bent  to  undo  civilization, 

And  help  the  damned  world  fly  to  pieces. 

Meanwhile  all  people  who  still  had  homes 

Or  places  of  refuge  to  hide  in, 

Fled  from  the  streets  and  whispered  trembling 

Behind  locked  doors  and  closed  casements ; 

Their  orisons  pleading  for  pity 

And  offering  penace  they  lisped 

To  the  Supreme  Justiciary, 

"Wrathful  Punisher  of  the  world's  wrongs, 

As  they  await  with  last  resignation 

The  approaching  hell-fire,  or  the  time's  devils, 

Or  perchance  both  together, 

Humored  with  overflow  grinning 

Of  Satanic  mockery. 

But  still  in  their  silent  retreat 

They  could  not  help  seeing  lit  in  red  glare 

The  self -vengeful  image  of  Richmond 

Eaising  its  daggered  hand  aloft 

As  if  to  pierce  its  own  heart — 

Though  not  yet  the  high  blow  has  fallen, 

Still  destruction's  delirium  rages, 


200     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

The  conflagration  widens  its  fiery  swath, 

Circling  around  the  city  within 

Till  its  heart  is  quite  eaten  out, 

And  homeless  families  flock  together 

In  famishing  groups  on  the  Public  Square. 

But  see  the  mad  river  also  blaze  up 

And  rave  with  sudden  explosive  thunder — 

Symbolic  boom  of  Last  Judgment ! 

Is  it  another  foe  approaching  the  city? 

Yes — a  foe — itself  bombarding  itself 

In  victorious  defeat, 

For  under  the  lifting  smoke  can  be  seen 

The  rise  and  fall  of  ruinous  fragments; 

A  fleet  of  gunboats  riding  on  the  water, 

Larger  and  smaller,  some  unfinished, 

Start  up  a  self-cannonade  by  order ; 

Hear  the  whiz  of  the  missiles  in  air, 

"With  a  Vesuvian  flare  and  rumble, 

Which  turns  for  a  frightful  moment 

The  vast  convulsion  more  frantic, 

Then  dies  away  on  the  billowy  clouds ! 

Now  only  some  derelict  rags  of  vessels 

Can  be  seen  tumbling  over  the  streambed; 

But  look  again  at  the  omen ! 

One  of  the  boats  has  escaped 

And  unexploded  dropped  down  the  current; 

What  does  it  prognosticate — 


THE  DOOM.  201 

Treachery,  accident,  Providence? 

Slowly  it  floats  into  dimness  of  vision 

Far  down  stream,  when  suddenly 

A  small  flash,  a  faint  report  in  the  distance, 

A  wee  wisp  of  smoke  up  curling, 

Then  nought — its  blank  problem  only  remaining. 

But  this  was  the  boat  which  Lincoln  met, 

Of  itself  bringing  to  him  a  message 

As  he  was  toiling  up  stream  on  his  barge, 

In  pull  with  his  open-lunged  oarsmen. 

Reporting  at  the  right  moment 

It  told  him  its  tidings 

In  its  own  way  of  thunderous  speaking — 

Just  once  a  voice  and  a  sign  and  then  done — 

Doom's  hieroglyphic, 

"Which  the  President  well  interpreted 

By  his  soul's  secret  cypher. 

Such  was  the  mighty  crash  outwardly, 

But  inwardly  mightier, 

Of  an  old  human  polity 

Which  had  long  ruled  the  land  and  its  mind 

"Worthily  in  many  ways, 

But  could  no  more,  being  outdated 

By  Time's  onward  march 

Toward  the  goal  of  History. 

Still  it  would  rule,  if  not  the  whole 


202     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

Then  the  part,  or  parts  of  the  part, 

And  so  fell  into  hopeless  division 

Counter  to  the  Nation's  great  oneness 

And  destined  to  be  still  greater. 

Thus  Doomsday  has  fallen  in  judgment 

Upon  Richmond  the  Capital 

And  upon  all  the  domains 

Of  which  it  was  made  the  central  Power. 

Wide  is  the  yawn  of  new  Chaos, 

A  people's  consciousness  overthrown, 

And  to  be  slowly  re-built, 

An  era's  debacle  now  concentered — 

Can  it  be  stayed  even  here 

From  its  own  cataclysmic  submergence? 

Hark !    the  ominous  tread  of  soldiery ! 

Not  the  slow  march  but  the  quick-step 

Hurrying  hitherward ! 

The  vengeful  semblance  of  Richmond 

Tarries  its  right  arm  uplifted, 

And  turns  its  air-drawn  head  to  listen, 

Paling  at  some  new  apparition 

More  dreadful  than  ever. 

So  it  fetches  deep  breaths  expectant 

Waiting  a  while  for  Hope's  arrival. 


IV. 
The  Doom  Lifting. 

The  Mayor  of  Richmond. 

I  have  come  to  your  lines  as  the  chief  magistrate 
of  our  city  to  turn  over  to  you  our  Capital,  which 
has  been  evacuated  by  the  Confederate  forces. 
These  two  citizens  have  accompanied  me  to  try 
what  we  think  our  last  hope. 

Federal  Lieutenant. 

I  am  simply  an  officer  on  picket  duty,  with  only 
one  company  of  soldiers — some  sixty;  your  re 
quest  must  go  to  headquarters,  which  are  at  yonder 
little  frame  house.  But  I  have  no  doubt  you  will 
be  welcome. 

Mayor. 

I  pray  God  it  may  be  so — I  shall  hurry  thither. 
Meantime  from  your  friendly  speech  I  may  ven- 

(203) 


204   LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

ture  begging  you  to  push  for  the  city  in  all  dis 
patch  with  what  men  you  can  gather  on  the  spot, 
in  order  to  stay  its  destruction.  There  will  be 
no  opposition  to  you,  but  a  prayerful  reception. 

Federal  Lieutenant. 

Yes,  I  have  been  watching  for  some  time  the  in 
creasing  smoke  over  yonder.  I  had  begun  to  an 
ticipate  something. 

Mayor. 

The  city  is  burning  down,  the  whole  of  it,  seven 
hundred  buildings  are  already  destroyed,  its  very 
heart  is  consumed,  while  the  conflagration 
broadens  in  every  direction — and  there  is  no  sal 
vation  without  you  who  have  been  so  long  our 
enemies.  We  beseech  you  now  to  capture  us. 

Federal  Lieutenant. 

Here  comes  a  squad  of  cavalry  on  a  scout  to 
ward  your  town.  We  shall  tell  them  the  situation 
and  then  follow. 

-*  r 

for. 


Good-luck — the  first  glimpse  of  it  for  many 
hours.  But  you  will  need  all  your  arms,  for  the 
crowd  in  the  streets  has  turned  to  pillage  and 
drunkenness.  Shops  are  broken  open,  and  whiskey 
is  flowing  in  the  gutters  from  barrels  whose  staves 


THE  DOOM  LIFTING.  205 

have  been  knocked  in.  But  I  must  be  off  to  see 
your  General;  this  citizen  will  guide  you  to  the 
Capitol  Square  from  which  your  help  can  be  best 
extended. 

Federal  Lieutenant. 

Forward,  march — double-quick  to  save  Rich 
mond  at  last. 

Mayor. 

General,  I  have  come  to  request — 

General. 

"We  already  know,  Mr.  Mayor,  the  import  of 
your  visit.  You  see  we  are  in  the  act  of  mouting 
and  on  the  point  of  starting  for  your  city.  But 
come  along,  take  this  horse  and  ride  with  us;  I 
would  like  to  hear  from  you  about  the  evacuation. 
Tell  me  how  the  fire  started. 

Mayor. 

By  command  of  Jefferson  Davis,  the  fleeing  Pres 
ident  of  the  Confederacy,  who  ordered  all  the  pub 
lic  storehouses  and  arsenals  to  be  set  on  fire  in  a 
high  wind.  I  heard  of  the  order  and  tried  to  have 
it  rescinded  or  at  least  modified ;  the  General  com 
manding  the  rear-guard  supported  me.  But  my 
request  was  rejected  with  a  sneer  that  we  were 
trying  to  save  our  property  for  the  Yankees.  I 


206    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

cannot  help  feeling  that  Davis  had  a  grudge 
against  the  Capital  which  saw  his  discomfiture  and 
flight. 

General. 

Possibly  you  requited  the  feeling.  But  it  is  a 
strange  reversal:  the  defenders  of  Richmond  have 
become  its  destroyers  and  its  destroyers  are  to  be 
its  preservers.  Well,  permit  me  to  say  that  some 
thing  of  the  sort  to  my  mind  has  been  lurking 
underneath  this  whole  war. 

Mayor. 

I  have  to  confess  that  the  destructiton  goes 
deeper  than  mere  buildings;  law  and  order  are 
also  at  an  end,  civic  authority  is  in  flames.  The 
prisons  are  thrown  open,  criminals  run  wild;  but 
when  I  saw  convicts  from  the  penitentiary  stream 
ing  through  the  crowd,  I  slipped  away  to  your  in 
vesting  lines  for  help  against  these  new  enemies. 

General. 

Startling  climax  indeed!  But  we  shall  soon 
bring  our  military  discipline  into  that  disorder. 
Still  I  cannot  help  thinking  that  this  last  hostility 
to  all  law  and  obedience  is  just  the  final  fruit  and 
logical  outcome  of  that  first  disobedience,  which  you 
cannot  have  forgotten.  But  to  the  rescue,  which 
has  always  been  our  deepest  aim. 


THE  DOOM  LIFTING.  207 

Mayor. 

Your  kindness  makes  me  bold  to  prefer  another 
even  more  pressing  request:  our  people  have  long 
been  stinted  in  food ;  they  are  all  hungry  now — so 
am  I — and  soon  we  shall  be  actually  starving.  May 
I  beg  you  for  an  immediate  supply  of  provisions 
for  famishing  thousands,  mainly  women  and  chil 
dren.  The  retreating  army  took  along  everything 
eatable — and  they  had  but  little — then  left  us  to 
perish. 

General. 

We  have  surmised  as  much  from  the  statements 
of  deserters.  Yonder  go  the  trains  with  loads  of 
food  which  our  soldiers  will  share  with  you.  Come 
now,  let  us  take  a  bite  even  here  on  horseback,  you 
say  you  are  hungry,  you  look  so.  Take  this  slice 
of  bacon  with  a  drink  of  cold  coffee ;  you  have  good 
teeth,  I  note,  try  them  on  this  hard  biscuit.  No, 
we  shall  not  let  your  people  starve,  now  that  they 
have  surrendered ;  we  shall  stay  the  full  return  of 
the  deed  upon  you. 

Mayor. 

Your  charity  is  boundless,  and  I  appreciate  your 
forgiveness.  All  of  it  will  be  required.  Several 
hundreds  of  homeless  mothers,  and  their  little  ones 
are  huddled  together  on  the  vacant  space  of  the 
Square;  they  not  only  are  without  food  but  with- 


208     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

out  cover,  many  of  them  have  had  to  leave  behind 
in  their  hurried  flight  from  the  fire  their  house 
hold  goods;  they  will  need  shelter,  bedding,  even 
clothing,  their  plight  was  pitiable  when  I  saw  them 
yesterday,  and  their  numbers  must  have  largely 
increased. 

General. 

Truly  a  day  of  reckoning;  see  the  dense  clouds 
of  smoke  rolling  heavenward  yonder !  But  also  see 
those  wagons  winding  up  the  road,  they  have  been 
already  ordered  to  your  city,  they  contain  tents 
and  blankets  with  much  clothing,  but  it  is  blue  and 
your  folk  will  have  to  wear  it  now.  We  seek  to 
save  Richmond  from  itself  and  the  South  too ;  that 
is  my  interpretation  of  this  conflict,  which  fact  is 
now  receiving  a  pointed  illustration. 

Mayor. 

Here  we  come  into  the  city;  the  fire  seems  to  be 
stayed;  such  is  the  rapid  work  of  your  soldiers. 
Then  the  tumult  on  the  streets  is  largely  allayed, 
the  criminals  must  have  scattered  or  hidden,  I  see 
few  of  them  skulking  around.  They  may  well  be 
afraid  of  your  guns  and  your  order. 

General. 

Certainly !  I  see  upraised  the  happy  sign  of  the 
great  new  change  which  will  soon  be  everywhere: 


THE  DOOM  LIFTING.  209 

over  the  capitol  yonder  are  floating  already  the 
Stars  and  the  Stripes. 

Mayor. 

Indeed!  That  flag  was  not  there  when  I  came 
away.  But  let  it  stay. 

General. 

I  wonder  who  first  put  it  there.  He  deserves  a 
reward,  for  he  has  done  what  I  call  a  typical  act. 

Mayor. 

Before  we  separate,  I  would  like  to  say  one  more 
word  about  a  matter  as  yet  unmentioned,  which 
weighs  heavy  on  my  mind.  Possibly  our  greatest 
calamity  is  yet  to  come ;  the  danger  is  very  threat 
ening,  as  I  think,  and  the  worse  for  being  so  in 
sidious.  In  every  household  of  consequence  is  a 
black  slave — and  often  several — in  whose  hands 
rest  the  lives  and  the  honor  of  our  dearest  ones, 
our  women  and  children.  Who  can  tell  what  is 
lurking  in  those  wooly  pates,  even  when  outwardly 
docile  and  faithful?  In  my  own  family  there  is 
the  same  peril.  I  do  not  know  what  may  happen 
at  any  moment.  Among  the  better  whites  this 
anxiety  is  universal,  torturing  us  all  day  and  night, 
but  especially  our  women  who  are  most  exposed, 


210    LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

right  on  their  hearths,  to  an  outbreak  of  servile 
passion  and  revenge.  This  is  the  secret  ever-gnaw 
ing  Hell,  worse  than  the  open  one  of  war,  which 
we  have  suffered  these  last  four  years  particularly, 
though  we  had  some  taste  of  it  before.  I  would 
pray  you  to  help  us  ward  off  this  most  terrible 
fate  by  keeping  your  black  soldiers  at  a  distance. 
My  most  fervid  petition  to  you  is  not  to  let  any 
colored  regiment  of  yours  enter  the  city — the  evil 
consequences  cannot  be  even  mentioned. 

General. 

I  cannot  guarantee  your  request,  though  will 
ing;  in  my  brigade  are  no  negro  troops,  and  it  is 
not  in  my  sphere  to  prevent  their  coming  from 
elsewhere.  Again  I  have  to  remark  that  your 
deep-seated  terror  is  the  nemesis  of  slavery  lurking 
and  working  in  the  master's  soul  for  his  deed. 
Your  speakers  have  always  painted  the  horrors  of 
a  black  revolt  in  lurid  colors;  Jefferson  Davis  is 
reported  to  have  twanged  that  blood-curdling  note 
in  his  last  speech  at  Richmond.  I  clung  to  the 
same  view  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  but  do  no 
longer ;  there  has  been  no  slave  insurrection  during 
the  entire  struggle,  though  every  sable  poll  must 
have  known  that  it  meant  his  freedom.  Hence  I 
do  not  believe  that  there  is  any  real  danger  from 


THE  DOOM  LIFTING.  211 

the  negroes  in  your  city ;  your  fears  are  self -born, 
though,  very  triturating. 

Mayor. 

See,  yonder  comes  a  regiment,  marching  in  full 
pomp  as  if  going  out  to  battle.  Oh !  despair,  they 
are  black  soldiers  advancing  to  the  heart  of  the 
town!  Merciful  God,  save  us  from  this  last  deso 
lation!  Good-by,  I  must  rush  off  at  once  to  my 
family  to  protect  them  from  outrage. 

General. 

Mortal  anxiety — Hell  itself — Yet  an  honest  man 
and  worthy — just  see  the  Furies  lashing  him! 


V. 


The  Doom  Undoomed. 

What  was  the  new  dread  far  subtler 

Bunning  through  Richmond, 

Quaking  the  bravest  hearts  of  her  folk 

With  a  tremor  more  poignant  in  agony 

Than  even  the  demons  of  conflagration 

Were  able  to  set  vibrating  horribly  ? 

Look !    what  is  it  now  coming  ? 

A  regiment  of  gleaming  dark  faces,  in  blue  dress, 

Erect,  of  proud  bearing  and  look, 

No  shiftless  lopping  of  body, 

Not  a  hole  in  their  big  shoes  all  shining, 

Not  a  stain  on  their  azure  suits 

Whence  glanced  the  polished  brass  buttons 

Like  the  twinkle  of  blue-set  stars : 

So  they  came  on  as  if  at  grand  parade, 

With  new-born  consciousness 

(212) 


THE  DOOM  UNDOOMED.  213 

Uplifted  now  to  enfranchisement, 

Slaves  unslaving  the  slave, 

And  rescuing  even  the  master 

From  his  act  of  enslavement 

Now  working  out  its  last  consequences. 

But  no  disorder,  no  rapine,  no  savagery, 

Only  the  steady  march  of  discipline 

Till  the  Public  Square  is  reached, 

Where  they  halt  and  salute  the  frolicking  flag, 

Emblem  of  the  Nation 

For  which  they  have  staked  life  in  battle, 

And  of  which  they  have  made  themselves  sharers. 

And  now  they  take  their  places  on  guard, 

Image  of  order  keeping  order 

And  saving  destroyers  from  self-destruction ; 

They  are  helping  to  stanch  the  public  wound 

Which  threatens  mortality, 

And  to  their  own  exuberant  people 

Now  tumultously  swathed  about  them 

Exampling  the  hour's  duty. 

But  the  once  proud  masters  of  Richmond 

Shrank  pale  at  the  sight, 

Each  hurrying  home  as  to  his  fortress 

Which  he  felt  he  must  defend  with  his  life 

Against  the  last  indignity, 

And  sentinel  every  approach 

With  himself  as  sole  gunman. 


214     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

Pallid  his  lips  but  resolute, 

"Which  whispered:    What  next? 

As  if  he  were  ready  to  besprinkle 

Fate  itself  with  his  own  heart's  blood 

In  the  ultimate  duel. 

But  there  was  no  danger, 

None  even  fluttered  in  the  distance 

For  a  threatening  moment: 

Still  the  awful  nightmare  of  fantasy 

Dreaming  the  peril  black 

Crushed  day  into  night  of  despair, 

Penetrating  parlor,  kitchen,  bedroom, 

And  brooding  there  with  chill  vampyre-wings 

Which  iced  the  heart  with  terror. 

Upburst  has  the  long-inherited  fear 

Of  racial  vengeance 

For  seven  generations  of  enslavement, 

Which  started  just  here  on  the  James ; 

So  let  it  be  requited  at  last 

Where  it  first  began : 

Such  would  seem  to  be  retribution's  law 

Writ  on  the  soul's  deepest  tablets 

Of  the  offender. 

But  no  requital  falls, 

No  vengeful  savagery 

Except  this  self-inflicted  torture 

Of  personal  terror ; 


THE  DOOM  UNDOOMED.  215 

But  instead,  a  higher  order  dawns, 
Which  saves  the  slave  and  too  the  enslaver, 
In  the  one  epochal  deed  together 
Kepresented  by  those  black  soldiers, 
Freemen  obeying  stern  discipline, 
Upbearing  on  their  swords  the  new  law 
"Which  undooms  the  doom  of  Richmond 
And  of  the  Nation  too, 
Just  by  their  swart-skinned  presence 
Dimly  prophetic  of  some  racial  future. 

Still  to  Richmond  they  seemed  the  Judgment-day 

Descending  with  its  awful  trump 

And  lowering  over  her  very  soul 

As  they  paraded  proudly  through  her  streets 

In  the  uniform  new  of  liberty. 

But  they  meant  just  the  opposite, 

They  relieved  her  of  her  ancient  curse 

Along  with  her  entire  people, 

Proclaiming  the  old  black  Fate  of  the  Nation 

So  long  overhung  in  menace 

To  be  at  last  unfated. 

Nor  is  the  hero  of  the  new  order 
To  fail  at  the  axial  moment 
"Which  concentrated  in  Richmond 
As  the  symbol  of  the  Southland. 
Rumor  pierces  the  multitude 


216     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  SECOND. 

At  first  in  an  uncertain  whisper, 

Then  with  an  outletting  shout  universal 

Which  blends  the  many-voiced  mass  to  oneness : 

" Lincoln  has  come! 

He  too  must  take  Richmond ! 

Look  at  his  tall  stride  yonder 

Mounting  the  steps  of  the  Capitol!" 


art 

Lincoln's  Richmond. 

PROLOGUE. 

' l  Heave  to,  my  lads,  another  valiant  stroke ! ' ' 

So  shrills  his  voice  the  President  uprisen, 

And  tokens  with  his  hand  the  anchorage 

Unto  the  sturdy  band  of  mariners 

Beating  one  sullen  harmony  of  oars 

Until  that  barge  of  State  grinds  on  the  shore, 

And  is  roped  fast  where  Richmond  has  her  wharf, 

On  which  the  crew  leap  out  to  guard  their  guest, 

The  bearer  of  supreme  authority, 

Who  rallies  wording  them  their  final  task: 

' '  Once  more  you  must  push  out  and  test  the  deed, 

Oaring  me  through  the  surging  throng  of  folk, 

More  desperate  than  little  rippling  James, 

With  more  torpedoes  hidden  in  its  bosom. 

(217) 


218     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Advance !  our  goal  is  yonder  Capitol, 

Now  beckoning  me  from  high  Heaven's  dome, 

Which  I  must  win  before  I  dare  turn  back 

Home  to  the  White  House,  or  home  to  the  grave. " 

Thus  Lincoln  tapped  his  boldest  hidden  thought 

And  flung  it  outwards  on  the  threatening  air, 

Which  dropped  its  sooty  choking  mantle  o  'er  him 

As  if  to  strangle  his  Olympian  words 

Proclaiming  present  turn  of  destiny. 

Then  with  a  calmer  look  of  inward  eye 

He  glimpsed  his  own  far  resolution 

Outlooking  o'er  the  edge  of  destiny: 

"I  somehow  seem  to  see  the  soul  of  things 

Rise  hither  in  a  kind  of  second  sight 

Shaping  to  me  an  inner  spectacle. 

The  thousandfold  events  shrink  to  one  shape 

Which  still  can  show  the  substance  of  them  all 

As  it  fleets  by  upon  my  vision  new. 

But  vanish,  specters  born  of  this  grand  moment ! 

I  have  not  yet  come  to  the  lofty  close, 

Which  soon  may  pinnacle  my  life  with  death. " 

So  saying  Lincoln  gave  the  speedy  step 
And  started  through  the  thronging  multitude 
Centered  mid  fourteen  men  as  body-guard, 
In  downright  challenge  fronting  Destiny 
Herself  in  dread  defiant  tournament. 
Wrapped  in  the  lowering  folds  of  sulky  smoke 


PROLOGUE.  219 

Which  greeted  eye  and  breath  uncannily, 
He  made  his  way  through  Pandemonium 
Of  many  mingled  elements  unchained, 
Seeking  to  undo  the  city's  self -done  doom, 
And  to  undemonize  the  dark  grim  mass 
Now  loosed  to  its  own  license  as  its  law. 
Two  prisons  he  could  glimpse  in  outline  dim 
Shaping  themselves  upon  the  glowering  air 
Like  the  dire  monsters  of  primeval  time, 
But  empty  now  of  all  their  life  and  purpose, 
Mere  hollow  shells  of  by-gone  days  of  Earth. 
The  one,  which  bore  the  name  of  Libby  prison, 
Was  the  dark  den  for  captured  soldiery, 
Misfortune 's  brave  defenders  of  the  Union ; 
The  other  was  the  dreary  pen  for  slaves 
Holding  the  human  crop  put  up  for  sale ; 
Both  structures  seemed  but  ghostly  skeletons 
Left  over  from  an  era  past  forever. 

Still  the  destruction  had  begun  to  wane 
Staying  its  rage  throughout  the  doomful  city; 
The  uniforms  in  blue  had  stacked  their  guns 
To  fight  this  newest  foe  of  their  old  foes 
Whom  they  must  now  protect  against  self-death. 
Thus  Lincoln  with  his  band  of  small  defence 
Marched  up  the  street  through  strangers  orderless, 
Tilting  upon  the  very  edge  of  fate, 
To  make  the  goal,  the  fallen  Capitol. 


220     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Meanwhile  lie  had  observed  another  group 

Made  up  of  dark-drawn  faces  resolute, 

Stalwart  of  form  and  ready  for  a  spring; 

Its  members  marched  along  outside  his  band 

As  if  a  second  guard  to  his  own  body-guard. 

At  last  its  leader  caught  the  eye  of  Lincoln 

And  begged  to  say  to  him  a  private  word, 

Bowing  deep  reverence  at  the  request, 

To  which  the  President  gave  his  assent: 

"I  saw  you  once  before  far  in  the  West, 

When  you  were  captain  of  a  troop  of  men 

Marching  up  the  Mississippi's  shore 

To  take  a  hand  in  Black  Hawk's  Indian  war. 

Do  you  remember  that  a  runaway, 

A  woman  slave,  fleeing  from  Missouri 

Across  the  river  with  her  mulatto  child, 

Appeared  one  day  within  your  wondering  camp, 

To  gain  her  freedom  in  your  own  free  State, 

The  boon  which  then  she  felt  was  yours  to  grant  ? 

That  was  my  mother  and  I  was  her  boy 

The  little  curly-headed  picaninny, 

Whom  you  then  rescued,  sending  us  away 

By  stealth  of  night,  in  charge  of  a  good  Quaker. ' ' 

Lincoln  gazed  at  the  man  and  then  broke  out : 
"What!  is  it  true?  so  many  years  ago! 
Can  you  have  been  that  swaddled  swarthy  babe 
Whom  I  would  not  send  back  to  servitude, 


PROLOGUE.  221 

Though  bidden  by  my  country 's  highest  hest  ? 
0  that  deep  discord  which  your  case  struck  up 
Within  my  brain,  I  never  shall  forget, 
Between  my  conscience  and  my  Nation's  law; 
But  now  that  law  is  swept  away  forever 
Bidding  me  dehumanize  myself, 
As  even  then  I  felt  it  must  be  with  the  years, 
For  this  land  is  no  more  half -slave  half- free, 
'Tis  all  the  one  and  not  the  other  too. 
But  how  prophetic  seem  those  old  events 
Forecasting  quite  what  we  have  done  to-day ! 
Somehow  that  Black  Hawk  War  presaged  me  here, 
Just  here  at  Richmond,  the  South 's  Capital, 
That  I  unchain  not  only  you  the  one, 
But  your  whole  race,  one  has  become  the  all. ' ' 

The  strong-knit  face  looked  up  and  firmly  spoke : 
"Such  is  the  reason  why  I  have  dared  hither; 
T  would  requite  your  deed  of  rescue  now 
Though  thirty  years  ago  and  more  it  happed — 
So  I  have  brought  my  band  of  watchful  scouts, 
All  of  my  color  sworn  to  secret  duty, 
Spying  the  movements  of  the  enemy; 
Ward  Lamon  knows  me,  to  whom  I  oft  report, 
Here  is  his  signature  and  cypher  too.'' 
"  'Tis  so,  I  recognize  the  hand,"  said  Lincoln, 
"And  I  have  noticed  too  the  firm-set  brows 
Of  your  bronze-featured  men  of  massive  tread 


222     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Circling  about  my  little  group  of  guards — 

New  recompense  born  of  an  old  good  deed. ' ' 

"  Another  word  permit  me  still  to  speak/ ' 

His  dark-skinned  benefactor  to  him  whispered : 

"Do  you  recall  a  man  of  sombre  look, 

A  semi- African  and  fugitive 

From  being  owned  a  slave  on  Southern  soil, 

Who  had  turned  Indian  in  his  hate  of  whites, 

But  changed  when  once  he  saw  your  character 

Written  upon  your  actions  merciful 

As  he  disguised  spied  out  your  camp  and  you  ? 

They  called  him  Swartface  from  his  nighted  look. 

Thus  has  he  often  told  me  of  his  life ; 

I  am  his  son,  but  he  has  been  discharged 

By  death  from  his  black  regiment,  the  first.'' 

Here  Lincoln  could  no  longer  list  the  tale, 
Another  task  begins  and  so  he  parts 
With  words  full  of  his  heartfelt  recognitions 
"My  gratitude  is  due  to  you  and  yours, 
You  have  helped  rescue  your  old  rescuer. 
See  here !  a  later  act  looms  up  before  me : 
This  is  the  Capitol  which  I  must  enter, 
Bearing  the  Nation's  unity  restored." 
So  Lincoln  started  slowly  up  the  steps 
Which  led  him  to  the  seat  but  lately  held 
By  hostile  sovereignty  now  fled  from  view 
And  Southward  vanishing  to  its  last  zero, 


PROLOGUE.  223 

Which  meant  the  long-fought  discord's  dying  close. 
But  listen  to  the  music  on  the  heights, 
Keeping  Heaven's  time  to  every  tread  he  takes 
As  he  ascends  the  topmost  Capitol ! 
He  moves  attuned  to  hear  that  air-sung  strain 
For  he  can  feel  some  subtle  change  within 
Which  gives  him  power  to  see  the  soul  of  things, 
To  list  the  era's  ideal  harmonies, 
To  lift  each  sense  to  supersensible 
Till  he  commune  with  the  prime  Essences. 
Hear  how  the  breeze  turns  to  a  hymning  voice 
As  it  whirls  round  him  on  the  Capitol, 
Choiring  the  moment's  cosmic  melodies! 


224     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 


Song  From  Above. 

Hark,  the  echo !    Heaven  is  now  one ! 

We  Powers  thrill  the  theme; 

For  we  heave  hearts  of  tunefulness 

And  sway  in  concord's  dream 

When  Earth's  events  have  rounded  out 

To  harmony  supreme. 

The  secret  music  of  the  Spheres 

Is  voicing  loud  its  lay 

As  ne'er  before  heard  in  the  past 

It  throbs  high  strains  to-day; 

The  organ  of  the  Universe 

Is  starting  now  to  play. 

And  God  Himself  is  halved  no  more 
To  North  and  South  of  yore ; 
Again  He  is  one  in  the  Nation — 
One  love,  one  song,  one  prayer 
Is  breathing  out  of  all  creation 
Round  Lincoln  everywhere. 


I. 

Lincoln's  New  Office. 

Let  the  reader  use  his  mind's  eye  again 

And  scan  the  lofty  President 

Now  of  the  whole  United  States 

As  he  sits  down  in  the  Capitol's  chair 

Just  vacated  by  the  fleeing  Davis, 

The  Union's  Counter  President. 

Lincoln's  first  glance  from  his  sunny  new  height 

Bespoke  compassion  for  his  foe ; 

Yet  that  much  furrowed  face  of  his 

Seemed  to  lose  its  sad  fissures, 

Its  corrugations  suddenly  smoothed, 

And  his  features  flowed,  fused  and  united 

As  never  before 

Into  harmony's  mirror. 

He  dismissed  his  guard  of  sailors 

With  word  and  favor  of  recognition 

(225) 


226     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Due  to  their  perilous  service  now  ended, 
For  on  all  sides  he  saw  his  soldiers 
Possessed  of  the  city's  sway, 
In  rule  of  the  ruleless  multitude, 
Quenching  the  fire  to  its  last  blazes 
And  relieving  the  destitute  people 
Even  if  hostile. 

Alone  he  sat  for  awhile  looking  outward, 

Then  he  turned  to  himself  in  converse: 

"I  cannot  dismiss  from  the  sight  of  my  soul 

That  babbling  curl-crowned  bright  picaninny 

Whom  I  saw  hanging  from  his  mother's  breast, 

As  she  begged  me  to  rescue  herself 

"With  her  child  from  pursuers 

On  her  track  with  blood-hounds, 

And  send  her  to  liberty, 

When  I,  a  young  callow  Captain, 

Was  making  my  march  on  the  Indian. 

That  action  I  seem  re-enacting 

Now  in  its  wholeness, 

That  primal  deed  of  enfranchisement 

Was  done  against  many  a  protest  then, 

But  the  germ  I  feel  it  to-day 

Of  my  proclamation  of  freedom 

Thirty  years  later  decreed; 

So  I  muse  as  I  sit  here  in  Eichmond 

Looking  backward  and  forward 


LINCOLN'S  NEW  OFFICE.  227 

Out  of  the  citadel  fallen, 

Watching  myself  in  the  glass  of  my  youth 

To  foretoken  what  I  am  now. ' ' 

Lincoln  rose  from  his  seat 

And  strode  slowly  around  that  central  point 

As  pivoting  his  new  order, 

While  he  observed  a  multitude  black 

Peering  timidly  at  him  out  of  the  distance, 

With  eyes  in  full  stare  of  wonder 

And  oft  with  half -prayerful  look, 

As  if  they  saw  an  apparition 

Lit  down  from  Heaven 

There  in  the  Capitol. 

But  Lincoln  had  soon  resumed  his  seat 

And  kept  up  his  self's  reminiscence: 

"How  another  recurrence  wells  up 

And  possesses  my  entire  memory, 

Which  took  place  but  a  few  days  later 

In  the  same  Western  campaign 

Outwardly  aiming  at  Black  Hawk, 

Inwardly  budding  my  future : 

Jefferson  Davis,  then  a  young  Lieutenant, 

Swore  me,  as  Captain  of  my  company, 

Into  the  Nation's  service; 

After  his  words  I  lisped  my  first  oath 

To  maintain  the  Constitution 

As  the  Law  supreme  of  the  Union. 


228     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

And  I  brought  down  my  fist  with  a  thump 

On  a  table  to  stress  my  vow, 

Even  clapping  my  hand  on  my  sword, 

Whereat  he  seemed  to  start  back  in  surprise, 

And  gave  me  a  haughty  look 

Whose  reproof  I  still  can  remember 

Tinged  with  contempt  aristocratic. 

Somehow  the  thought  will  not  leave  me 

That  our  spirits  clinched  then, 

And  had  their  first  germinal  wrestle 

Far  out  on  the  frontier ; 

For  even  then  was  yeasting  the  strife 

Which  is  ending  to-day 

With  me  in  this  seat  supreme 

Of  Kichmond's  Capitol." 

Here  Lincoln  stopped  with  a  pensive  shade 

Overcasting  his  features  a  moment, 

As  if  he  feared  his  own  victory 

And  shrank  from  peril  of  exultation; 

Then  he  went  on  reflective : 

"Fain  would  I  construe  my  rival  aright, 

Impartially  weighing  him; 

He  is  as  honest  in  conviction, 

I  have  to  believe,  as  I  am, 

And  as  devoted  to  his  cause; 

But  the  Fatal  Line  lay  in  him  from  birth 

Ineradicable  as  his  selfhood, 


LINCOLN'S  NEW  OFFICE.  229 

Ingrown  into  his  being; 

His  soul's  last  norm  was  separation, 

And  his  heart's  love  made  for  secession, 

Not  for  slavery,  which  he  could  give  up 

On  behalf  of  his  higher  disunion. 

Whence  did  he  inherit  that  trait, 

Cleavage  innate  of  his  spirit? 

I  diagnose  in  him  the  child  of  Europe 

And  of  its  divided  polity 

Made  up  of  many  separate  States; 

He  never  was  born  a  right  American 

With  the  deeper  instinct  of  Union 

Overcoming,  transcending,  re-constructing 

The  self -rasping  old  European  States, 

Disjoined  and  suspicious  each  of  the  other, 

Into  which  he  would  throw  us  all  back, 

Would  revert  to  the  past,  not  advance  to  the  future. 

Thus  I  character  my  brave  rival, 

And  also  myself  at  our  last  intuition ; 

But  he  has  lost,  despite  his  high  courage, 

Now  we  shall  not  turn  back,  but  go  forward 

To  our  own  goal  of  History. 

May  he  escape ! — I  hope  not  to  catch  him, 

I  would  not  shed  his  blood  if  captured 

When  his  cause  is  dead." 

Thus  Lincoln  interprets  the  man 
With  whom  he  will  be  interwoven 


230     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Forever  inseparate 
In  one  great  cycle  of  time  historic, 
Each  belonging  to  each  in  opposition, 
Yet  both  forming  one  whole  of  the  Nation's  act 
At  the  turn  of  an  epoch. 
Two  persons  they  whirl  on  reverse  sides 
Of  the  one  vast  revolution 

Which  is  now  completing  its  round  at  Richmond- 
Double  suns,  the  one  quite  extinct  now, 
The  other  waxing  ever  in  brilliance. 
So  Lincoln  sat  reflecting  in  sorrow 
Over  his  fallen  antagonist, 
Whose  conscience  he  honored 
Though  not  his  cause, 
Whereat  he  sighed  from  his  deeps : 

1 1 0  the  pain  of  it  though  the  triumph  be  mine ! 

A  crushed  personality  sinking  down 

From  its  lofty  pedestal! 

And  a  broken  folk-soul  along  with  its  crash ! 

The  backstroke  of  smiting  misfortune 

I  feel  concentring  on  me  just  here, 

Even  if  it  had  to  be, 

And  I,  just  I,  had  to  bring  it  about! 

Oh  the  pathos  of  human  failure 

Even  if  merited ! 

That  pathos  overwhelms  me  the  conqueror, 

The  suffering  of  my  foes,  though  deserved, 


LINCOLN'S  NEW  OFFICE.  231 

Is  mine  too  who  inflicted  it, 

And  I  must  feel  the  penalty 

Which  I  had  to  impose; 

Here  I  must  be  not  only  the  victor 

But  the  vanquished  as  well; 

Mine  is  the  psean  of  triumph  indeed, 

Yet  also  the  dirge  of  the  overthrow, 

Which  I,  the  poor  mortal,  must  make  mine  own, 

To  be  like  unto  God 

Who  is  both  the  defeater  and  the  defeated, 

Embracing  his  own  opposite 

In  heart  and  in  head." 

Thus  rose  up  in  Lincoln's  breast 

The  huge  resurgence  of  pity 

Which  encompassed  all,  his  own  and  his  other, 

The  Yes  and  the  No  of  him 

In  Godlike  compassion, 

As  if  he  partook  of  the  Universe  whole 

At  the  fount  of  primal  creation. 

A  new  shift  of  existence 

He  felt  transforming  him  inward 

The  moment  he  mounted  the  top 

And  took  his  seat  at  the  Capitol. 

He,  hitherto  the  sturdy  warring  half, 

Must  now  become  the  whole  in  himself 

Infolding  his  other  as  his  own, 

Regenerating  the  small  Self  of  him 


232     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

To  liken  the  Self  of  the  All. 
He  sank  to  a  moment's  swoon  of  surprise 
Over  the  metamorphosis  daring 
Which  was  shifting  his  soul-world  entire 
To  complete  his  own  very  consciousness, 
Rising  amid  such  upburst  of  thought 
Lincoln  was  ware  of  the  Presence 
Familiar,  one  with  himself  within, 
Yet  also  one  with  the  world  without, 
And  he  heard  the  oracle  even  if  voiceless : 

"This  is  the  climax  of  your  career 

That  in  yourself  you  can  be  both  sides, 

And  bring  the  contending  halves  to  oneness 

First  in  your  own  heart, 

From  which  will  flow  forth  through  all  time 

The  new  harmony  of  the  Nation ; 

For  it  must  be  what  your  are, 

And  become  the  grand  reality 

Of  your  own  Self's  unity, 

Which  has  now  reached  its  supreme  fulfillment 

Here  on  the  height  of  this  Capitol 

Fallen,  but  again  to  rise  up  better. 

Lincoln,  how  rapid  the  whirl  of  the  Now ! 

Hear  it !    the  wheel  of  old  slow  Time 

Has  suddenly  got  to  whizzing 

And  flings  off  world-moving  events 

With  the  sweep  of  the  hours. 


LINCOLN'S  NEW  OFFICE.  233 

Every  revolution  of  the  sun 

Now  seems  the  turn  of  a  century, 

Orbed  with  mightiest  actions 

In  swift  succession. 

You  live  a  thousand  lives 

In  these  few  days  of  your  visit — 

Days  dropping  the  fruitage  of  asons 

Along  your  path  up  to  Richmond, 

For  each  movement  hither  of  yours 

Will  show  in  the  magic  glass  of  the  Future 

A  stride  of  the  whole  World's  History." 

Lincoln  shrank  at  the  forecast 

Even  if  it  was  his  own, 

For  his  mortal  Little  Self 

Was  submerged  for  the  moment 

In  the  overflow  vast  of  his  Great  Self 

Surging  down  through  his  soul, 

Vehicle  bearing  the  Presence  universal. 

Still  he  throbbed  with  the  echo 

Of  his  own  retrospect 

As  the  Presence  went  on: 

1  'Think  what  has  befallen  you 
In  these  fleet  days  panoramic: 
You  have  gone  over  the  Fatal  Line, 
So  has  this  army  of  yours  gone  over, 
Lifting  its  mystery  veiled  of  years ; 


234     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

And  you  have  won  its  love  at  its  passage, 

As  it  surmounts  all  its  obstacles 

Both  inner  and  outer, 

Now  aligning  for  its  victorious  march 

Forward  to  Appomatox,  the  finale. 

Here  you  have  reached  the  topmost  seat 

Of  your  whole  career 

On  the  perch  of  this  Capitol 

Which  you  are  to  dip  in  your  heart 

And  rebuild  its  drear  desolation 

Into  young  Hope 's  temple, 

Quenching  its  enmity  past. 

That  is  your  sovereign  deed  creative, 

Healing  the  wounds  of  the  Nation, 

Rehearing  its  youth  for  the  fresh  career 

Which  the  ages  await. 

What  next  ?    ask  your  puzzled  lips : 

You  too  are  to  become  a  Presence 

Eternal,  ever  visible 

To  your  folk,  their  upper  President 

Still  swaying  them  by  your  example, 

As  Restorer,  Liberator,  Mediator, 

As  the  Builder  of  loftier  Harmonies 

Than  heard  ever  before  on  this  globe — 

Hark,  hither  they  float,  those  Harmonies, 

To  salute  you  in  this  Capitol, 

On  this  summit  of  triumph — 

Ideal  forms,  entities  primal, 


LINCOLN'S  NEW  OFFICE.  235 

Voicing  their  own  revelation 

In  airy  hymnal; 

But  with  their  appearance  I  vanish, 

For  they  share  not  my  shape 

But  arise  formed  of  themselves; 

Farewell,  Lincoln. " 

The  friendly  Presence  was  gone, 
Yet  left  its  last  message  resounding 
Through  the  President's  whole  being, 
That  he  fell  to  a  revery  tuned 
With  concordances  thrilling  him  through, 
Which  pass  before  him  a  masque 
Of  pure  Intelligences  in  person, 
Turning  the  air  into  cadences  rounded, 
Syllabling  lipless  their  phantasmagory. 


II. 


The  Masque  of  Harmonies. 

Conscience. 

I  am  Conscience,  the  soul's  Confessor; 
And  now  I  must,  in  the  new  order, 
Myself  come  to  the  confessional. 
The  rent  of  the  time  I  have  taken, 
And  disunion  too  has  been  mine, 
For  I  have  sanctioned  both  sides 
"With  the  seal  of  the  holiest  duty 
As  if  each  could  be  good  and  evil. 
Such  confession  I  make  of  myself, 
I  have  been  double  in  this  war, 
Participant  of  its  deep  separation, 
Even  of  its  mutual  rancor, 
Becoming  a  furious  partisan 
All  in  myself  against  myself 
Evincing  the  Nation's  division. 
(236) 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  237 

Two  consciences  have  stood  arrayed 

In  .battle-line  against  each  other, 

Each  sincere  and  true  to  itself, 

For  what  it  deemed  the  right. 

Lincoln  had  conscience, 

Davis  had  conscience, 

Grant  and  Lee  both  possessed  me, 

Northern  and  Southern — each  side  claimed  me, 

Me,  this  Conscience,  as  its  own  particular ; 

So  I  divided  and  fought  myself, 

And  I  tell  you,  that  was  the  real  battle. 

Behind  the  deadly  onset  of  men  enranked, 

Behind  the  flash  of  musketry 

And  the  roar  of  artillery, 

Two  Titanic  convictions  in  full  panoply 

Charged  each  other  and  kept  up  the  onslaught : 

Till  now — and  what  now  ? 

They  have  come  to  know  each  other 

Through  the  hardest  discipline, 

Each  grants  to  the  other  equal  worth 

Of  ultimate  character. 

Thus  they  are  twinned  by  a  common  principle 

In  their  last  Holy  of  Holies, 

Forming  the  deepest  pledge  for  the  Union 

Now  to  be  re-established  on  groundwork  new, 

The  primal  bed-rock  of  the  heart. 

Both  can  unite  in  mutual  esteem, 


238     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Yea,  can  reverence  each,  other's  valor 

In  service  of  Conscience, 

Which  at  last  cements  by  affection. 

Then  I  must  confess  to  another  lesson 

Most  surprising  of  all: 

I,  Conscience,  once  thought  me  sovereign 

Over  the  individual, 

Lawgiver  sole  of  his  tribunal. 

Indeed  I  have  sometimes  proclaimed  myself 

To  be  God  Himself,  the  last  arbiter 

Judging,  condemning,  approving 

The  deeds  of  the  man  here  below 

By  my  absolute  authority. 

But  through  this  strife  of  two  causes  hallowed, 

I,  Conscience,  discern  a  Power  above  me 

Throned  over  my  doubleness, 

A  oneness  beyond  my  twoness — 

What  can  it  be  ? 

A  vast  new  experience : 

A  Presence  takes  me  up  into  itself 

And  heals  my  battling  dualism — 

God  is  one,  and  in  Him  is  Union, 

I,  Conscience,  am  many,  bringing  difference. 

That  Presence,  0  Lincoln,  possesses  thee, 

As  thou  resumest  both  Consciences 

Into  thy  Self's  integration, 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  239 

Making  whole  again  the  soul  of  thy  people 
To  be  at  one  with  the  soul  of  the  All. 

Still  another  confession,  my  Lincoln : 

I  fell  out  with  myself  not  alone, 

But  with  the  uppermost  Law  enacted, 

Proclaiming  it  Hell's 

And  deeming  myself  the  highest  of  Laws 

Outreaching  that  of  the  State 

Whose  rule  against  mine  I  did  challenge. 

Thus  I,  Conscience,  turned  unlawful, 

A  destroyer  of  institutions 

Defiant  of  human  association, 

Facing  myself  toward  chaos 

"With  all  the  madness  of  suicide. 

Me,  Conscience,  you  have  uplifted 

From  mine  own  fatal  chasm, 

And  reconciled  with  Law  the  Orderer, 

Aye  with  myself,  0  Lincoln. 

You  knew  me  and  loved  me,  how  deeply ! 

But  you  had  to  overmaster  in  might 

My  maddened  inner  revolt 

Against  the  right  of  the  Law. 

Hist !  hither  it  hovers,  the  Law  itself 
In  its  reposeful  semblance  of  form, 
With  all  its  new-born  majesty 
Crowned  by  the  voice  of  the  Nation — 


240     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Though  I  hold  still  within  me 

My  sanctuary  of  Self, 

And  whisper  each  soul's  guidance. 

I  become  one  with  legality  here, 

Joined  in  the  marriage  of  spirit 

After  our  long-wrathed  mutual  scission ; 

I,  Conscience,  now  consecrate  Law 

As  my  own  highest  worth, 

And  take  its  form  and  its  voice — 

Hearken !  it  too  will  confess. 

Lincoln. 

I  salute  thy  confession,  0  Conscience, 

For  it  is  mine  too ; 

I  have  always  acknowledged  thee 

Though  I  felt  thy  inner  disruption  ; 

Disunion  had  become  conscientious 

Both  in  the  North  and  the  South 

With  its  inner  division  and  hate. 

But  here  thou  hast  proclaimed  thee  healed 

In  the  Nation  and  in  the  man. 

Methinks  I  now  see  the  soul-born  Vampyre, 

Melancholy,  my  old  bat  of  the  Styx, 

To  lift  its  night- wings  for  flight. 

But  think!  thou  confessest  thee  reconciled  too 

"With  authority  legal; 

Just  that  was  for  years  my  burning  petition 

To  the  Almighty's  Love. 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  241 

But  like  a  fair  lawyer 
I  fain  would  hear  too  the  other  side ; 
Good !  here  stands  the  Law  in  person 
With  his  plea  at  my  bar. 

Law. 

I,  the  Law  of  the  Land,  am  made  whole, 
Cured  of  my  first  disorder, 
For  at  my  birth  the  Fatal  Line 
Dividing  this  country  in  twain 
Divided  me  in  its  Constitution. 
I  too,  the  Law,  was  half-slave,  half-free, 
And  the  ever-widening  cleft 
With  its  lowering  threat  of  dissolution 
Yawned  in  my  written  statutes, 
Eifted  every  Commonwealth, 
And  every  individual  soul, 
Till  at  last  came  the  furious  clash, 
With  the  shock  of  contending  hosts. 
Two  Laws  I  grew  up  in  fell  conflict, 
Though  the  same  of  name  from  the  start, 
Grinding  in  desperate  inner  attrition 
Till  the  one  became  two  Constitutions 
Arrayed  against  each  other, 
Battling  across  the  Fatal  Line 
Which  found  its  deepest  chasm  in  me,  this  Me. 
So  I,  the  Law,  was  split  by  secession, 
To  which  I  gave  my  sanction ; 


242     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

I  was  myself  disunion 

And  went  to  war  at  the  head  of  both  armies, 

Upholding  each  with  my  legal  sanction. 

But  that  time  of  my  discord  is  over, 

The  Fatal  Line  is  transcended, 

The  one  President  has  now  taken  his  seat, 

Now  the  one  only, 

Just  here  in  Richmond  the  fallen, 

The  Capital  of  my  separation, 

But  no  longer  separated; 

One  has  become  the  two  Constitutions 

And  I  am  whole  again, 

I,  the  single  organic  Law 

Informing  the  Nation, 

My  dark  counterpart  having  evanished 

With  its  Southern  enactment. 

And  yet  another  outcry  of  hallelujah 

I  with  all  my  gravity  feel  like  shouting: 

The  news  has  just  come : 

Congress  has  cut  out  of  my  organism, 

By  its  bold  legislative  surgery 

The  poisonous  Fate  of  my  life  hitherto, 

Obliterating  the  line  forever 

Once  drawn  there  by  slavery. 

So  I,  the  Law,  am  internally  one 

With  the  one  Nation ; 

I  am  now  in  myself  the  Union 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  243 

Transformed  from  Disunion, 

And  henceforth  I,  the  mother  of  States, 

Shall  bear  them  all  free, 

And  never  a  Slave-State  again. 

But  what  is  that  soulful  harmony  falling 

As  out  of  spheres  overearthly, 

Yet  singing  within  me  its  chorus  ? 

I  the  Law,  am  at  peace  with  Conscience 

Which  has  shown  me  so  often  repugnance 

And  has  cursed  me,  defied  me, 

And  even  has  sought  to  destroy  me 

In  my  own  citadel. 

That  had  grown  my  greatest  peril, 

The  folk-soul  was  turning  illegal 

Hating  my  ordinance  primal, 

Denying  me  as  its  own, 

Planning  lawlessness  over  me — 

Me,  the  uppermost  Law. 

But  now  the  reconciliation  has  come; 

Law,  the  universal, 

Conscience,  the  individual, 

We,  the  strifeful  couple  of  bitter  words, 

Not  only  have  made  up  our  fiery  quarrel, 

But  are  married  and  keep  house  together 

All  over  the  land, 

To  a  harmony  happy  composed 

And  hearted  in  mutual  devotion. 


244     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Lincoln. 

Upon  this  atonement  of  spirits  estranged, 

Both  of  them  his  as  well  as  the  Nation's, 

Lincoln  failed  not  to  breath  his  benediction: 

"Let  me  bless  your  happy  espousals, 

For  I  of  myself  share  this  new  concord, 

Long  have  I  known  you  both,  and  your  conflicts, 

In  my  bosom  you  two  were  disputing 

Many  seasons  ago  and  never  have  stopped 

Till  now  at  .this  Capitol's  truce. 

Let  me  also  add  my  confession: 

The  battle  of  Conscience  and  Law 

"Was  mine  from  the  dawn  of  my  reason, 

Jarring  my  soul  with  that  of  the  People, 

Whose  every  shock  I  felt  as  mine  own. 

But  hist !  a  new  appearance  rises 

Strangely  endowed  with  your  ideal  semblance ; 

Is  it  a  mock  simulacrum  deceptive, 

Or  thought's  reality  figured? 

It  seems  of  your  very  body  air-molded, 

Aye,  the  child  of  your  harmony 

So  soon  begotten,  born,  and  grown; 

Look!  it  moves  the  air  to  a  voice 

Telling  perchance  yet  another  confession. ' ' 

Liberty. 

I,  the  Spirit  of  Liberty,  can  now  rise  up 
To  my  birthright  whole  for  the  first  time, 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  245 

And  take  my  full  shape  here  healed ; 

For  I  also  was  cleft  in  the  middle, 

And  showed  me  two  hostile  Liberties 

Fighting  each  other  e'en  to  the  death 

On  a  hundred  fields  of  carnage. 

Each  side  with  fervor  invoked  my  name 

Calling  me  their  Goddess  supreme, 

And  offering  too  themselves  as  my  sacrifice 

On  the  bloody  altar  of  war 

With  equal  devotion. 

But  my  jubilee  has  arrived, 

My  twofoldness  is  healed, 

I  am  become  one  entire  Liberty, 

No  longer  half  paralytic 

With  the  stroke  of  servitude. 

For  mine  too  was  the  Fatal  Line 

Which  has  been  unmade 

To  make  the  Nation  rightly  united, 

So  that  now  it  can  shout  in  truth : 

Liberty  and  Union 

Interwrought  as  soul  and  body : 

No  Law  without  Conscience, 

No  Conscience  without  Law 

Hereafter  will  read  the  supernal  decree 

To  be  writ  by  the  Spirit  of  History. 

Thus  is  the  ideal  couple  loyally  wedded 

In  the  heart  and  in  the  institution, 


246     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

And  from  such  parents  I  can  be  rightly  born, 

Dowered  to  do  my  task  in  the  world — 

I,  Liberty,  goal  universal 

Of  all  Persons,  Polities,  Peoples. 

Now  the  President  looking  from  Richmond 

Beholds  me,  Liberty,  liberated, 

As  he  enfranchises  me  outer  and  inner, 

And  me  remakes  to  be  whole  and  real 

For  a  new  career  on  the  earth, 

Re-building  a  race  with  my  image. 

I  wish  that  old  John  Brown  might  be  here, 

The  toughest  Puritan  Conscience, 

Most  refractory  to  every  Law 

Except  his  own  for  himself, 

And  so  in  my  name  undoing  me — 

I  believe  that  Lincoln 's  new  deed 

Would  mediate  even  him, 

Though  the  part  extreme  of  his  party, 

And  him  reconcile  with  his  other,  the  Law, 

Which  was  his  very  anti-Christ, 

And  which  in  defense  of  itself 

Aye  of  me  too,  Liberty, 

Had  in  sorrow  to  decree  him  to  death 

Weeping  to  strangle  so  much  of  Conscience. 

Even  the  blacks  whom  he  tried  to  set  free 

Cannot  take  him  as  examplar  final; 

Whom  will  they  elect  ?    Their  right  Liberator — 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  247 

But  hark !  what  hither  rolls  marching  and  chanting 

In  multitudinous  psalm-song? 

Freedmen  leaping,  uplooking,  vociferous, 

Who  are  calling  to  me,  oh  Liberty ! 

Seeming  to  see  me  here  on  this  Capitol 

As  I  stand  alongside  Lincoln, 

Shadowing  outward  his  substance 

To  their  faith- wrought  fantasy. 

They  shout  their  wild  hosannas  of  freedom 

Mid  rapturous  fragments  of  Scripture, 

Bearing  as  center  an  ancient  book 

With  opened  clasps  and  shredded  binding, 

A  much-used  volume  stained  and  tarnished, 

But  an  offering  sacred; 

Enough !  now  let  me  vanish  as  spectre, 

And  watch  me  becoming  reality, 

Freedom's  reality,  grander  than  ever. 

Transition. 

Lincoln  gazed  mentally  delving 
Into  the  drama  spectacular 
With  its  round  of  three  characters 
Circling  him  as  their  center. 
The  frank  eidolon  of  Liberty 
Here  ceased  its  speech  to  the  President, 
And  sought  to  fleet  out  of  his  sight 
But  it  could  not. 
Those  great  eyes  of  African  ecstasy 


248     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Kept  seeing  it  stand  beside  Lincoln 
And  re-making  it  made  already, 
An  apparition  godlike  descending 
On  earth  to  their  high  jubilee, 
Long  glimpsed  as  their  sacred  ideal, 
And  hoped  for  in  shadowy  dream,     . 
But  now  come  true  as  truth  itself, 
Aye  divine  to  them  as  their  Lord. 

Lincoln  had  also  his  access  of  wonder 
At  the  three  air-rounded  forms, 
Rising  in  order  and  telling  unbidden 
Their  own  deepest  mystery — 
Conscience,  Law,  Liberty, 
Each  like  a  soul  in  confession 
Revealing  its  own  ultimate  process, 
Yet  each  the  essence  of  millions  of  souls 
The  time's  participants. 
Brooding  far  down  in  his  bottomless  sea 
Where  is  the  home  of  existences  primal, 
Lincoln  exclaimed  to  himself : 

"What  phantasms  ghostly,  unsubstantial, 

And  yet  most  real  of  earth's  realities, 

The  Pure  Energies  behind  this  whole  war ! 

Such  I  seem  to  witness  just  here 

Addressing  me  on  this  Capitol 

Where  they  by  some  spell  come  down  as  mine  own, 


THE  MASQUE  OF  HARMONIES.  249 

Though  the  whole  Nation's  as  well. 

What  is  this  change  going  on  within  me 

As  if  I  dwelt  and  conversed  with  the  Essences 

Incorporeal,  eternal,  immortal! 

It  rests  upon  me  like  a  future  state 

Casting  foreshadows  into  my  life 

As  of  destiny  coming. 

Yet  another  marvel  I  query: 

Each  of  these  forms  had  a  double  at  first, 

The  strange  encounter  of  two  selves  opposed 

Which  it  had  to  make  one. 

That  also  I  felt  to  be  mine : 

It  called  up  the  wraith  of  my  counterpart 

Stealthily  striding  before  me  awake 

At  my  task  in  the  White-House. 

But  here  three  Personalities  double 

Eise  up  self-opposed  yet  one, 

Forming  a  triple  turn  of  appearances  outer 

Yet  all  interlinked  internally 

Into  one  cycle  of  pageantry. 

But  hark !  the  uproar  crashes  about  me, 

The  trinity  masqued  of  my  spooks  fleets  away, 

The  reality  now  breaks  in  to  undream  me 

With  the  noise  of  an  epoch  burst  forth. 

What  an  earthquake  of  souls! 

Primal  eruption  of  infantile  manhood, 


250     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

It  whirls  its  lava-stream  hither! 
Great  G-od !  What  means  it — now  and  endless ! 
From  above?    From  below?    Or  both? 
Indeed  I  shall  meet  it." 


III. 


The  African  Jubilee. 

Hurrah !  they  come,  the  dark-skinned  folk, 

Kumbling  in  stormy  multitude 

Through  the  streets  overswollen  with  cheers 

Toward  Abraham  Lincoln's  stand 

On  the  Capitol  fallen. 

Chanting  the  paean  of  freedom 

In  a  fitful  ecstatic  rhythm, 

They  tune  the  earth  to  their  heavy  tread 

Along  the  centering  highways. 

All  lift  up  the  common  shout 

Of  hallelujah  to  the  Lord, 

Hurled  with  an  elemental  energy 

From  the  pent-up  human  soul 

Now  first  loosed  of  its  ancient  bondage, 

Its  ancestral  fetters  broken. 

The  black  mass  marches  onward 

(251) 


252     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Tumultuous,  weeping,  Grod-invoking, 

With,  many  a  hit  at  the  Devil 

In  sudden  convulsions  of  song 

As  if  obsessed  with  Heaven's  own  rapture, 

Chanting  the  New  Jerusalem's  glory 

In  frantic  doxology. 

Lincoln  they  longed  to  see  and  to  hear 

As  some  appearance  divine, 

Come  down  from  throne  celestial 

For  their  earthly  deliverance. 

In  the  midst  of  a  choiring  group 
Which  headed  the  turmoil  tempestuous, 
Singing  shreds  of  a  psalm  of  David 
Strode  their  preacher  bare-headed, 
With  visage  all  shining  adoration, 
As  he  presented  a  Bible  to  Lincoln 
Who  rose  to  receive  his  visitors, 
And  gave  ear  to  their  dialect  rude, 
Which  pulsed  the  full  heart  of  the  speaker, 
While  he  told  the  story  ever  repeated 
How  the  Israelites  under  Moses, 
Their  leader  miracle-working, 
Escaped  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt 
Through  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Desert 
To  the  promised  land  of  their  people 
Flowing  with  milk  and  honey  and  freedom. 
So  spake  the  resounding  orator 


THE  AFRICAN  JUBILEE.  253 

With  many  responsive  refrains, 
From  the  throng  of  heads  all  ringleted 
And  bubbling  over  with  strong  amens 
Reverberating  up  to  the  welkin. 

f 

Lincoln  took  quietly  into  his  hand 
The  sacred  Book  of  Books, 
And  modulated  his  words  to  a  music 
Heart- jetted  in  tender  sunshine: 
"The  best  gift  of  God  unto  man! 
The  sacred  folk-book  of  Nations, 
It  has  made  a  road  for  all  peoples, 
Not  alone  for  the  chosen  one, 
To  rise  out  of  their  thralldom's  limit 
And  to  win  their  liberty's  dower. 
I  have  learned  life  from  its  pages, 
Every  day  I  turn  its  leaves  over 
And  try  to  read  a  chapter  or  verse 
To  pattern  my  doing  after  Jehovah. 
For  I  too  have  needed  emancipation 
From  my  former  condition, 
I  toiled  in  mine  own  bonds  of  Egypt 
Which  fettered  me  fast; 
Mine  own  Red  Sea  also  I  knew 
Drawing  a  line  of  fate  against  me 
Which  I  had  to  pass  over 
For  myself  as  well  as  for  you. 
I  could  give  you  my  inner  history 


254     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Of  long  wrestlings  for  light  supernal, 

Often  I  felt  me  deserted  of  Heaven 

In  the  midst  of  awful  calamities ; 

But  I  would  come  back  to  this  book, 

And  in  it  search  to  discover  God's  ways 

Of  releasing  His  people 

Even  by  means  of  chastisement  bloody, 

Till  the  right  eternal  be  done 

As  taught  in  this  school-book  of  Providence, 

Whose  lesson  the  Nation  also  must  learn. 

Such  was  my  discipline  personal 

Which  trained  me  in  sympathy's  gospel 

Till  I  grew  strong  with  the  deity; 

Then  I  felt  one  with  your  lot 

Daring  to  free  the  whole  land  and  you  and  myself. 

But  now  let  us  be  thankful  together 

That  our  wanderings  long  in  the  wilderness 

Have  landed  us  all  ungyved 

Just  at  this  Capitol  fallen, 

But  fallen  toward  the  new  Paradise. ' ' 

The  speaker  let  vanish  his  voice 

Into  the  chorus  of  singing  thousands, 

Who  intoned  one  of  their  folk-hymns 

Made  up  of  words  from  the  Hebrew  Psalmist, 

Yet  overwrought  to  the  fibre 

Which  bore  the  stamp  of  the  race 

Chanting  the  wild  runic  melody 


THE  AFRICAN  JUBILEE.  255 

Charactered  warmly  of  Africa. 

Oceanic  rose  the  swell  of  the  song, 

As  if  heaving  all  those  bosoms  now  blessed 

To  a  common  upburst  of  ecstasy 

Through  the  rolling  concordance  of  sounds 

In  undulations  far-echoing  skyward. 

But  at  last  the  chanted  hurricane 

Had  exhausted  its  fury, 

And  was  dying  down  to  its  close, 

When  a  raucous  note  was  heard 

Defiant  in  demonic  scorn. 

Whence  so  sudden  a  discord? 

One  black  Titan  had  pushed  to  the  front 

Who  bowed  not  the  head  nor  echoed  the  joy, 

But  sneered  his  damnation 

With  Beelzebub's  howl. 

A  prodigious  dark  hunchback  he  hobbled  up, 

From  whom  his  own  people  shrank  off 

As  in  terror  of  Splayfoot  present, 

Stigmatising  his  look  and  his  shape 

With  a  nickname  pat,  the  Black  Crook. 

Gigantic  in  stature  with  sleeves  rolled  up, 

Displaying  huge  snaky  folds 

Of  his  bulged  biceps  and  coiled  forearm 

Ending  in  a  monstrous  clutch, 

Like  huge-handed  Ophiuchus 

Strangler  of  Africa's  jungle  of  serpents, 


256     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Balls  up  the  black  and  crooked  Black  Crook. 

He  had  been  king  of  the  horse-shoers 

To  Jeb  Stuart's  cavalry, 

And  rumor  fabled  among  his  folk 

That  he  could  break  or  disjoint  the  leg 

Of  the  stoutest  stud  by  his  kick  or  wrench, 

And  that  the  wild  rearing  colt  would  cower  down 

Submissive  to  the  dragon  in  his  look. 

He  came  from  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp, 
In  whose  solitudes  hung  with  thick  gloom, 
And  peopled  densely  with  reptiles 
He  lived  as  if  in  his  own  underworld, 
Participant  of  some  age  geologic 
Long  foregone  in  our  old  earth-life; 
Emerging  thence  to  the  light  for  a  season 
He  became  the  black  overseer  of  slaves, 
Harsh  and  merciless  to  his  own  race, 
Tasking  them  up  to  the  death-line 
With  the  high  air  of  absolute  lordship, 
As  if  he  were  throned  the  king  of  Dahomey. 
So  he  comes  to  the  fore  at  this  juncture 
Hissing  his  hot  spit-fiery  words  of  defiance 
Against  his  own  people's  liberation, 
Even  before  their  great  Liberator: 
"Nigger  knows  not  what  he  does — 
A  slave  he  will  stay  though  free." 


THE  AFRICAN  JUBILEE.  257 

Thus  stood  up  the  daring  denier 

To  curse  his  own  African  blood, 

Proclaiming  dark  forecast  of  evil 

In  the  face  of  the  day's  Jubilee, 

Colossal  antitype  of  his  race 

Voicing  its  contradiction, 

An  omen  which  made  the  sunlight  shudder 

Illumining  there  its  own  night-side. 

But  the  Black  Crook  had'  his  shadow 

Which  followed  him  like  the  haunt  of  a  spectre, 

A  negro  woman,  Mother  Sibylla, 

The  seeress  dread  of  Old  Mountain, 

The  only  one  of  his  race  whom  he  feared 

As  invoking  a  stronger-willed  Genius 

Than  he  could  summon  in  spite  of  his  muscle. 

She  stalked  out  fronting  his  malediction 

Which  seemed  to  call  her  up  from  the  throng 

Whose  dumb  heart  she  made  vocal: 

* l  Get  thee  behind  me,  Nigger  Satan, 

Else  this  eye  shall  strike  thee  with  lightning, 

And  send  thee  back  to  thy  Hell." 

Whereat  Black  Crook  with  howl  antediluvian 

Slid  serpentine  through  the  black  mass 

Hearing  her  menace  infernal, 

Causing  terror  new  at  his  terror, 

Till  he  had  slunk  out  of  sight  to  his  night- world. 

The  President  gazed  in  a  stun  of  wonder 


258     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

At  the  dark  drama  playing  before  him 

By  two  actors  self-chosen, 

A  man  and  woman  of  the  freed  race 

Representing  its  two  responses, 

The  Nay  and  Yea  to  his  pivotal  act 

Of  emancipation. 

He  mused  to  himself  unheard 

On  this  pictured  forecast  of  his  deed : 

' l  They  have  set  before  me  another  Fate 
Now  begotten  and  long  to  live ; 
That  black  Caliban  still  exists 
The  far-back  natural  man, 
And  so  does  Mother  Sibylla 
Mothering  her  folk's  aspiration, 
Who  now  turns  to  me  her  rapt  visage 
Radiant  with  her  black  sunshine, 
Yet  prophetic  of  night. " 

Then  the  sable  seeress  uplifted  her  eyes 
Toward  the  high  presence  before  her, 
And  failed  not  to  point  with  her  finger, 
Emphasizing  her  scriptural  idiom : 
"I  see  you  risen  up  yonder  our  leader, 
Who  after  years  of  the  Lord's  tribulation, 
Has  got  to  the  top  of  Mount  Pisgah 
And  looks  far  out  on  the  coming  world 
Of  a  people  delivered, 


THE  AFRICAN  JUBILEE.  259 

Like  old  Moses  the  Lawgiver. 

Behold,  we  are  crossing  the  river,  are  over, 

We,  the  saved  Israel; 

But  you,  ah !  you  stir  not,  stir  not, 

Still  peering  on  high  from  Pisgah — 

Oh  why  tarry  behind,  though  in  Heaven! 

Come  with  us,  oh  Saviour; 

But  no,  I  see  it  hover,  the  shadow, 

The  threatening  daggered  shadow, 

You  cannot  escape,  you  swim  out  of  sight, 

You  are  gone  forever,  Redeemer, 

Just  at  your  happiest  moment, 

And  your  last  is  your  highest — " 

Here  her  lips  quivered  but  uttered  not, 

As  she  drooped  down  to  a  speechless  swoon, 

Seeress  Sibylla,  the  black,  of  Old  Mountain 

In  her  clairvoyant  rapture. 

Stout  arms  lifted  her  helpless  flesh  like  a  lump 

Fallen  limp  of  limb  and  unstrung 

After  her  beatific  tension, 

And  piously  bore  her  away, 

While  the  multitude  startled  ducked  down 

In  a  tremble  to  the  thrill  of  her  trance, 

Terrified  at  her  dark  prophecy 

Which  they  all  felt  though  not  understood, 

And  muttered  a  charm  against  damned  Black  Crook, 

Beelzebub's  negro  demon, 


260     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Whose  magic  had  brought  on  this  spell. 
But  how  is  it  with  Lincoln  ? 

He  on  his  side  thrills  an  overflow's  throb 

Sympathetic  with  what  he  beheld, 

For  it  had  touched  him  farthest  down  to  the  center. 

He  rose  and  circled  about  his  chair 

Driven  by  backstrokes  of  old  presentiment 

Which  pulsed  into  memory, 

For  he  could  recognize  his  own  first  mind 

At  its  lowest  layer  upturned 

In  the  dream-built  speech  enraptured 

Of  this  Ethiop  oracle: 

So  he  must  syllable  all  to  himself, 

His  prescient  heart  throbbing  destiny : 

"Well  do  I  know  it — my  triumph  is  death, 

Defeat  dares  not  slay  me, 

Success  is  my  chosen  assassin, 

This  Capitol  fallen  fates  me, 

Victory  is  my  sworn  destroyer 

Undoing  my  years  of  disasters 

From  their  start  in  the  first  deed  of  war 

At  Charleston  Harbor, 

Then  undoing  myself  for  the  round-up. 

How  well  do  I  know  it — my  dated  doom ! 

Long  have  I  forefelt,  yea  foreseen 

My  penalty  personal 

For  my  worthiest  deed : 


THE  AFRICAN  JUBILEE.  261 

That  is  the  seal  of  mortality 

Stamped  on  the  highest  human  fulfilment 

By  the  Powers  above. 

I  know  I  must  pay  with  my  blood 

Just  for  the  good  I  have  done 

If  it  be  of  Time's  greatest 

Making  eternal  its  chronicle. 

Only  thus  at  his  moment  supreme 

May  I  truly  example  the  Christ 

Who  suffered  for  saving  a  world. 

But  think  of  this  mystery ! 

Yon  black  seeress,  Mother  Sibylla 

Must  have  felt  this  secret  miracle, 

Which  lies  deep  in  God's  own  mind, 

Now  being  resurrected 

Out  of  the  depths  of  Nature  herself, 

For  it  is  there  and  everywhere 

To  the  soul  that  can  fathom  it. 

But  that  dread  deformity  of  her  race, 

Whom  she  called  the  Black  Satan, 

What  is  his  message  to  me,  aye  to  me?" 


IV. 

The  Black  Crook. 

.The  dark-minded  Titan  of  Africa 
Now  broken  loose  from  his  fetters, 
And  turned  over  to  his  own  free  self 
To  curse  his  new  freedom 
Or  perchance  to  undo  it, 
Lincoln  had  heard  as  a  witness 
Testifying  his  race's  character 
At  Richmond's  Capitol. 
And  the  outward  shape  of  the  prodigy 
Would  suggest  the  inner  spirit 
With  the  plastic  transparency 
Of  Nature,  the  first  artist, 
Who  molds  the  human  stuff  original, 
Making  appearance  tell  on  itself 
Just  through  its  covering; 
And  the  rude  elemental  energy 
(262) 


THE  BLACK  CROOK.  263 

Which  lies  now  quiescent 

In  that  craggy  mountainous  shape, 

Starts  the  uncanny  shudder 

That  it  might  from  its  unseen  central  depths 

Break  forth  to  volcanic  violence, 

Overflowing  the  land  and  its  people 

With  its  lava   of  white-heated  passion 

Sprung  of  sexed  animality. 

So  Lincoln  sinks  back  on  himself, 

Far  down  into  his  soul's  first  fountains, 

Till  he  may  see  that  African  spectacle 

As  his  primeval  own; 

Yea,  he  would  find  in  himself  this  people, 

Even  malign  Black  Crook, 

With  all  his  human  horror, 

As  some  ancestral  period  still  of  his  own 

Even  if  long  transcended. 

So  prying  around  among  old  remnants 

Of  his  past  personality, 

He  began  with  a  lawyer's  scrutiny 

His  own  cross-examination: 

"I  would  first  ask  of  this  dark  folk 

What  is  its  evangel  \ 

Unconscious  indeed,  yet  eloquent? 

For  it  has  one,  and  for  me, 

Else  it  had  never  been  sent  here 

At  this  gathering-up  of  the  past 


264     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Not  only  mine  but  the  world 's, 

Yea,  of  futurity  centered  in  Now. 

Even  malign  Black  Crook 

Is  as  human  as  I  am, 

Bearing  the  same  superscription  of  man 

From  the  same  common  source  of  creation ; 

His  is  the  same  fellowly  mould  with  mine, 

Borne  both  of  us  by  the  All-mother ; 

So  he  shall  have  my  fellowship 

To  be  fellow-man,  fellow-freeman 

Aye  perchance  fellow-citizen. 

But  I  have  to  mark  on  him  his  limit: 

There  is  still  innate  in  his  soul 

The  Fate  of  Nature  original ; 

He  has  not  yet  made  his  own  inner  law 

And  enforced  it  upon  himself 

In  Judgment  strict,  upright,  unfailing. 

So  he  has  his  own  Fatal  Line 

Which  I  must  help  him  transcend ; 

For  he  too  is  come  to  his  Crossing, 

And  rounds  the  turn  of  an  epoch  new. 

Yes,  that  black  race  is  in  me,  part  of  me, 

A  stage  of  mine  own  evolution ; 

It  reveals  me  my  primitive  manhood, 

I  heard  a  note  of  me  sung  in  its  song, 

And  I  have  barkened  its  seeress  in  vision, 

Aspiring  prophetess,  Mother  Sibylla, 


THE  BLACK  CROOK.  265 

Oracling  out  of  her  soul 's  depths 
What  lies  deepest  in  mine — 
Just  my  destiny's  secret 
Which  at  last  overwhelmed  her  to  silence. 
Truly  she  is  the  benign  of  her  people 
Raptured  to  Heaven's  dreams  of  the  future, 
Wrestling  with  God  Himself  in  prayer, 
Till  she  win  even  Omnipotence. 

But  my  problem  is  demonic  Black  Crook 

Misshapen  of  Nature  and  Spirit, 

Deformity's  very  ideal. 

Truly  he  is  the  malign  of  his  people, 

Goaded  by  Furies  of  passion  untamed, 

What  can  I  do  with  him? 

What  is  the  future  to  do  with  him? 

And  what  does  his  being  say  to  me? 

I  cannot  help  thinking  of  Caliban 

And  his  master,  the  humane  Prospero, 

Trying  to  train  him  to  conscience 

And  dutiful  self-restraint 

Out  of  Nature's  drunken  delirium. 

Then  flits  before  me  the  daughter,  Miranda, 

Terrified,  fighting  to  flee 

From  the  clutches  of  the  lustful  monster 

Who  sought  her  in  violence,  boasting 

He  would  people  the  land  with  Calibans 

In  his  bestiality's  revel. 


266     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Great  God !  the  ominous  prophecy 
Flung  down  on  us  here  by  the  poet 
And  casting  its  baleful  shadow 
Through  the  centuries! 
How  can  I  gainsay  it ! 

Still  Prospero  was  himself  once  Caliban, 

But  he  does  not  say  so 

And  perchance  would  never  confess  it ; 

Though  he  forgot  it,  I  must  not, 

For  I  was  myself  on  a  time  Black  Crook 

Perchance  in  some  jungle  geologic 

Like  the  Great  Dismal  Swamp. 

His  dark  layer  I  still  can  trace  in  me, 

So  can  every  man  looking  within  far  down 

If  he  dare  not  lie  to  himself. 

But  with  this  knowledge  follows  a  duty 

In  sequence  exact: 

I  must  try  to  do  for  Black  Crook 

"What  has  been  done  for  me, 

And  repay  my  old  debt  of  kind  Nature 

Generous,  altruistic  Mother 

Working  secretly  onward  to  Good 

Even  through  Evil's  tortuosities  snaky, 

Who  has  led  me  through  forbears  of  aeons 

All  the  way  up  from  Black  Crook  and  lower 

To  this  individual  Abraham  Lincoln, 

The  President  of  the  whole  United  States 


THE  BLACK  CROOK.  267 

Now  perched  upon  Richmond's  Capitol  fallen — 

Even  if  not  destined  to  stay  there  long. 

Black  Crook  must  yet  rise  to  take  my  place, 

Beaching  a  mastery  greater  than  mine 

In  the  revolutions  of  Time 

To  be  recorded  of  History 

And  to  be  sung  by  poets  as  hero. 

Caliban  even  repented 

And  was  restored  by  his  master 

After  murderous  conspiracy 

And  revolt  against  order  established; 

Yea,  even  after  his  bestial  attempt 

To  do  the  nameless  deed  of  guilt 

Against  humanity  itself, 

He  was  not  burnt. 

A  devil,  a  very  devil 

Prospero  called  him  in  wrath, 

And  then  undeviled  him. 

So  thought  I  of  Black  Crook, 

Still  I  must  help  him  undevil  himself, 

Else  I  too  turn  devil — 

And  I  shall  go  down  to  damnation  with  him 

In  a  common  Tophet, 

Unless  I  impart  him  what  I  am. 

And  the  drama  hereafter  must  run : 
Prospero,  ruler,  philosopher,  poet 


268     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Has  to  make  over  into  himself 

Just  this  hag-born  Caliban, 

Training  the  slave  to  be  all  what  he  is, 

Surely  with  no  little  discipline, 

And  with  many  a  backstroke  despairful 

Which  may  evoke  an  epoch's  relapse. 

Still  Caliban  is  to  go  on  ascending 

Zigzagging  down  around  upward, 

Till  he  mount  to  top  out  the  uppermost  place 

Surpassing  the  miracled  master 

Performing  all  his  wonders  of  art, 

In  supereminence  magical, 

And  as  ruler  bettering  too  the  State 

Much   lapsed   in   the   hands   of   rapt,   book- worn 

Prospero. 

So  the  time  must  re-write  the  old  poem, 
Making  it  over  into  accord 
With  the  fact  paramount 
Which  now  dominates  History : 
For  man  must  go  back  that  he  go  forward, 
Conjoining  the  first  of  him  into  the  last, 
That  he  make  himself  rounded  a  whole 
Of  total  humanity. " 

Thus  Lincoln 's  fantasy  sped  on  a  journey 
Far  away  back  to  the  ages  hoariest 
Far  away  up  to  the  Future  foggiest, 
Following  deeply  his  instinct 


THE  BLACK  CROOK.  269 

That  his  career  was  more  than  national, 

Even  more  than  continental, 

And  reached  forth  to  the  incoming  task 

Soon  to  be  laid  on  Earth's  races  of  men 

As  elements  constitutive 

Of  a  higher  civilized  order. 

Not  of  one  race  only  he  felt  himself 

To  be  humanly  born,  but  of  all  — 

The  first  great  omniracial  man — 

Aye,  the  first  of  that  name  and  character 

Canonized  with  the  heroship  of  races 

By  the  world's  synod  supreme  of  Judges 

Delivering  here  on  our  Earth 

The  Last  Judgment. 

But  see !  who  flits  hither  so  lightly  ? 

A  woman  pulls  him  into  the  present 

By  her  sudden  appearance 

And  makes  ready  to  tell  of  herself, 

As  Lincoln  looks  down  from  the  Capitol 

"Which  she  once  built  as  her  own, 

Haughtily  queening  from  its  summit 

Till  today  is  the  reckoning 

When  the  President  of  the  United  States 

Has  taken  his  regnant  seat  upon  it, 

To  whom  she  approaches  in  confession, 

Nobb  of  dignity  still 

Even  if  humbled  in  mien  and  matter. 


V. 

Virginia. 

The  humblest  class  of  the  Social  System 

In  its  new  freedom's  festival 

Had  appeared  before  its  emancipator, 

Who  had  heard  its  varying  spokesmen, 

Each  revealing  a  strain  of  its  character. 

But  next  is  forthcoming  a  lady  high-born 

Of  the  uppermost  ruling  class, 

Former  mistress  of  former  slaves, 

But  now  leveled  herself  to  liberty  — 

It  was  Virginia  herself  in  person 

Whose  ghostly  shape  had  risen  again 

To  salute  the  Union's  President 

Now  installed  in  her  Capitol  fallen, 

Though  she  had  once  dared  predict  him 

That  she  would  take  and  possess  the  White-House, 

(270) 


VIRGINIA.  271 

Defying  the  Spirit  of  History, 

Undoing  the  Union  to  chaos, 

And  therewith  herself. 

Four  years  had  circled  round  her  since  then, 

A  time  overfull  of  destiny ; 

Lincoln  in  turn  had  presaged  her  his  deed, 

That  he  would  go  back  to  his  grandfather's  State, 

Bringing  the  boon  of  enfranchisement 

As  his  culminant  work : 

Whereof  here  was  the  high  fulfilment, 

For  she  too  needed  liberation 

As  much  as  her  slaves 

To  whom  she  was  herself  enslaved. 

How  different  was  the  meeting  now 

As  the  two  stood  facing  each  other ! 

Let  them  graciously  talk  for  themselves, 

For  each  will  make  vocal  the  heart. 

Lincoln. 

"Well,  Virginia!  how  changed  in  appearance! 
Now  you  seem  young,  you  were  old  before, 
The  same  features  I  note  in  the  face, 
But  wonderfully  youthfully  again, 
Rejuvenant,  aye  transfigured 
To  mirror  new  depths  of  the  soul, 
And  a  new  era. 

Then  I  called  you  Mother  Virginia, 
Now  I  should  title  you  Daughter  Virginia; 


272     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

What  have  you  done  to  yourself  ? 

Tell  me  the  elixir — myself  would  like  of  it 

To  iron  out  a  few  of  these  wrinkles 

"Which  bemock  me  with  ugly  grimaces. 

Yes,  genuine  is  the  change,  I  see, 

You  are  not  painted,  nor  tricked  out 

By  some  woman's  artifice 

To  us  men  incomprehensible. 

Uncertain  you  smile — enough  of  my  banter 

May  we  not  hear  the  mystery? 

Virginia. 

Yes  I  shall  have  to  confess  it : 
I  have  been  re-born,  though  unwilling ; 
The  daughter  of  the  Union  I  now  am, 
Though  once  I  was  its  mother, 
As  you  perchance  have  implied 
In  the  play  of  your  funning; 
So  I  have  to  begin  life  over 
Quite  from  its  colonial  start, 
And  re-build  my  society; 
You  are  the  man  who  has  wrought  this  change 
Aided  chiefly  by  these  children  of  mine, 
The  free  States  of  the  young  North- West 
Whence  is  your  newer  origin. 
You  have  all  come  back  to  your  mother 
Bringing  to  her  your  youth  and  freedom ; 
Though  still  my  pride  may  resent  it, 


VIRGINIA.  273 

I  am  glad  to  be  youthful  again 
And  therewith  to  be  free; 
The  mortification  of  failure  is  mine 
Though  it  be  offset  with  glory 
Won  by  my  soldiery  over  yours 
On  many  a  field  victorious. 

Lincoln. 

You  deserve  all  the  glory  of  valor 
"Which,  I  grant,  was  backed  by  conviction 
Along  with  honor's  devotion. 
But  how  new  is  your  manner  toward  me ! 
No  longer  wrathful  in  speech, 
Not  so  haughty,  not  so  defiant, 
But  a  look  you  show  of  acceptance, 
An  air  of  relief  from  some  great  burden ; 
You  seem  to  be  freed  of  your  slavery 
To  your  own  slaves; 
With  their  freedom  yours  has  arrived, 
Free  is  the  master  just  when  the  slave  is, 
As  your  great  statesmen  have  often  told  you. 

Virginia. 

I  admit  much  truth  in  the  lesson 
Which  you  have  moraled  me ; 
Still  my  anxiety  has  not  departed, 
Nor  will  not,  despite  the  new  liberty. 
I  witnessed  to-day  from  my  outlook 


274     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

The  wild  jubilee  of  freed  Africa's  horde, 

Of  whom  a  dread  suspicion  lurks  in  me 

Ever  haunting  my  peace. 

But  my  horror,  yea  my  vengeance 

Takes  arms  at  the  sight  of  that  free  Black  Crook, 

The  darkey  obsessed  of  the  devil 

Whom  Nature  herself  has  disnatured 

As  if  she  would  token  her  malice 

And  play  the  Destroyer 

In  one  of  her  vicious  moods, 

Such  as  she  often  has  shown 

In  her  earthquakes,  reptiles  and  men, 

For  Nature  has  too  her  Abaddon 

Whom  Black  Crook  incarnates. 

He  follows  me  everywhere  around 

As  my  insidious  shadow  of  evil 

Turned  free  to  abase  me, 

Even  to  rule  me  in  my  own  home, 

As  if  to  undo  my  very  existence. 

Look!  yonder  I  see  him  sneaking  in  stealth, 

Snaky  thwart  of  humanity 

Afire  with  tropical  passion, 

Ever  menacing  me  and  mine. 

I  know  he  is  here  but  an  image 

Which  haunts  me  through  all  my  soul-world, 

Still  the  more  fearful  is  the  pictured  ghost, 

Because  it  ever  seems  on  the  spring 


VIRGINIA.  275 

To  leap  to  the  hellish,  reality 

Right  in  my  Holy  of  Holies. 

Then  at  times  I  see  alongside  him 

A  ghostly  counterpart, 

The  semblance  pale  of  a  white  man, 

Long-whiskered,  wrinkled  of  brow, 

With  a  cast  of  deep  brooding  on  God's  evil, 

Whom  I  once  hung  for  treason  openly, 

But  secretly  for  his  league  with  Black  Crook 

To  whom  he  still  is  bonded  as  spectre 

In  my  dreams  and  e'en  in  my  waking, 

The  white  and  the  black  ghost  rising  in  turn 

As  if  ingrown  with  my  very  conscience, 

Which  makes  me  even  as  spectre 

To  be  horribly  haunted  of  spectres. 

Lincoln. 

Your  misgiving  has  my  compassion, 
But  time  will  bring  its  allayment, 
Even  if  the  ugly  phantom  of  Black  Crook 
May  not  wholly  be  banned  for  years ; 
Remember  that  he  and  his  ill  ilk 
Have  been  lodging  with  you,  yea  within  you 
For  more  than  two  centuries, 
And  cannot  be  thrust  out  so  easily 
From  your  land,  your  life,  your  soul, 
You  say  too,  your  conscience, 
I  may  add,  your  heart. 


276     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Long  and  hard  must  be  the  untwisting 

Of  such  deep-twinned  strands  of  existence, 

And  their  new  adjustment. 

But  how  strange  is  this  enchantment : 

To  you,  a  spectre,  spectres  flit  spectral, 

As  you  do  to  me  now  still  in  the  flesh, 

Who  am  alive  yet  commune  with  pure  Forms 

Whose  words  I  can  understand  as  mine  own, 

Imparting  me  supersensed  meanings, 

Revealing  me  Providences  most  hidden. 

But  what  thrills  me  all  to  surprise 

Is  your  eerie  acknowledgment 

That  the  ghost  of  old  John  Brown 

Is  not  yet  laid  in  your  borders. 

Well  do  I  know  his  wandering  spirit, 

For  I  have  glimpsed  and  heard  its  wild  song 

At  the  head  of  marching  soldiers, 

Thousands  upon  thousands 

Who  must  also  have  seen  what  they  sang, 

How  his  soul  goes  marching  on. 

But  that  march  is  now  about  ended ; 

Why  not  be  reconciled  here 

You  two,  the  extremes  of  this  period, 

Antagonists  filling  with  din  an  epoch, 

Which  now  must  be  tuned  to  new  harmonies  ? 

Let  me  be  your  mediator : 

That  jumps  with  my  plan ; 


VIRGINIA.  277 

Listen!  the  old  Puritan  comes 

As  a  voice  embodied 

And  makes  obeisance  friendly 

To  the  high  dame  of  the  Cavaliers ; 

His  lips  are  starting,  he  wishes  to  speak, 

Let  us  hearken  his  ghostly  word 

Telling  us  aught  from  over  the  bourne 

For  our  behoof  methinks; 

At  least  let  us  listen. 

John  Brown. 

I  come,  0  Virginia,  my  error 
To  say  thee  with  sorrow's  frankness 
That  my  peaceless  spirit  find  peace : 
My  invasion  wronged  thee  deeply 
Violating  the  Law's  highest  majesty 
Of  which  I  made  myself  judge  supreme 
Impelled  by  my  Conscience, 
Deeming  it  God's  own  oracle 
Which  solely  prescribed  my  duty. 
I  am  glad  to  see  thee,  Virginia, 
And  to  offer  atonement, 
"Which  may  cheer  thy  day  of  suffering 
And  to  me  bring  surcease  of  wandering, 
For  my  soul  keeps  marching  and  fighting 
The  same  old  battle  over  and  over, 
Yet  forever  defeated, 
Aye  stretched  anew  on  the  old  gallows, 


278     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Till  I  be  given  my  wholeness 

And  forgiven  my  halfness 

Just  by  thee,  0  Virginia, 

Who  wast  by  me  so  madly  injured 

In  thy  law  and  also  in  mine — 

For  thine  is  now  my  law — 

I  avow  it  thee  deeply,  Virginia. 

Virginia. 

I  am  ready  to  meet  thee  halfway, 
Though  once  I  could  not  have  done  so, 
And  to  confess  my  shortcoming : 
I  on  my  part  have  neglected  Conscience, 
Have  thwarted  it,  even  transgressed  it, 
In  spite  of  many  a  warning 
Given  me  from  within  and  without, 
By  my  own  greatest  sons,  by  the  age, 
And  by  myself  in  ominous  forecast 
That  a  day  of  reckoning  would  surely  come 
For  the  transgression, 
Till  to-day  I  have  suffered  the  penalty  long 
Heaped  up  for  generations, 
But  now  expiated  in  full,  I  hope. 
So  I  shall  take  thy  Conscience 
And  unite  it  with  Law, 
Thus  constructing  new  Liberty 
Both  for  myself  and  for  the  whole  Nation. 
And  the  great  Presence  I  also  accept 


VIRGINIA.  279 

Which  I  once  defied  in  the  White-House 
When  you  stood  before  me 
Seeking  to  know  its  behest  and  obey  it : 
And  so  you  have  won,  0  Lincoln. 

Lincoln. 

What  more  could  I  pray  for 
From  the  Father  eternal  of  Mercies! 
Both  of  you,  boldest  and  bravest, 
Aye  too  the  bloodiest, 
The  extremes  of  the  sides  contending, 
Hitherto  unapproachable  by  the  beatitudes, 
Angrily  fighting  each  other, 
Are  now  thinking  quite  the  same  thoughts, 
And  willing  too  the  same  will, 
In  a  common  emotion — 
May  I  not  call  it  love  ? 
Therein  lies  the  true  Union  restored, 
Heart,  head,  and  the  deed  of  the  twain 
United  in  one  soul — 
Who  could  have  forethought  it? 
I  proclaim  this  antipodal  couple, 
Cavalier  and  Puritan, 
Dropping  inherited  hate 
Into  oblivion's  Hades, 
To  be  joined  together  in  marriage 
Beyond  death's  separation — 
John  Brown  and  Virginia. 


280     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Scarcely  was  spoken  the  word 

When  both  of  the  spectres  had  vanished, 

But  left  floating  upon  the  air 

A  two-voiced  strain  of  a  warning 

Which  seemed  to  breathe  upon  Lincoln: 

"Though  we  be  reconciled, 

Others  on  each  side  still  cherish  revenge, 

Haters  of  love  and  lovers  of  hate 

Who  will  turn  upon  thee,  0  Lincoln 

Seeking  to  compass  thy  death, 

And  to  undo  thy  work." 

Such  was  the  affectionate  music 

Hymning  the  note  of  threatening  doom, 

After  which  whispered  a  woman's  voice: 

1 '  Stay  for  awhile  at  my  Richmond 

Where  thou  art  safe. 

Return  not  now  to  thy  Capital 

Where  is  centered  the  danger." 

The  President  felt  the  full  forecast 

Which  was  also  his  own. 

But  he  summoned  himself  to  reply: 

"I  dare  not  shirk  the  moment 

Though  in  it  lurks  my  fate 

So  long  hung  over  my  life ; 

I  must  go  and  meet  my  lot, 

To  be  the  ransom  of  both  revenges, 

Northern  and  Southern, 

Sprung  of  the  war  and  long  before ; 


VIRGINIA.  281 

And  if  it  so  shall  befall  me 

Let  my  tomb  be  honored  in  love 

As  that  of  the  victim 

Slain  by  the  very  Hate  of  Love  itself." 

Thus  Lincoln  sat  brooding  within, 

When  he  was  jerked  from  the  thrust  of  his  mood 

By  a  messenger's  cry  berattling  his  ear-drum: 

' '  Eobert  Anderson  begs  your  permission 

To  call  and  bring  his  glad  greetings 

To  the  President  of  all  the  United  States 

At  the  Capitol  of  Richmond." 

"What !  the  hero  of  Sumter !  bid  him  welcome." 

Said  Lincoln  adding,  "I  remember  now  why, 

The  war 's  beginning  turns  up  this  way. ' ' 

He  starts  for  the  mansion's  presence-chamber 

To  receive  the  guest  of  the  hour; 

As  he  enters  the  room  and  looks  up 

His  eye  rests  on  Washington's  picture, 

Who  seems  to  smile  down  approval 

And  gleam  a  kinship  of  spirit. 

"What  is  it  that  makes  him  so  great?" 

Queried  Lincoln  drawn  by  that  Presence 

To  peer  into  the  sources  of  mightiest  souls 

In  a  hidden  wonder  about  himself ; 

As  he  the  miracle  pondered  of  Great  Men, 

And  sank  in  the  depths  of  the  mystery, 

He  fell  to  his  revery's  world 


282     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Where  he  beheld  a  spectacle  speaking, 

Heard  voices  of  Ideas  incorporate, 

Yet  the  Prime  Movers  of  human  greatness 

Strangely  unfolding  themselves  in  his  spirit 

And  their  ways  of  dealing  with  mortals. 

"What !  more  phantoms  new  on  the  way ! 

Who  come  spriting  me  now? 

What  means  all  this  pageantry  spectral? — 

Think !  they  flit  the  Genii  immortal 

Of  Time's  teeming  appearances, 

Guardians  of  History's  grandeurs, 

Gifted  with  vocables  airy 

To  which  I  shall  eagerly  hearken, 

For  they  are  God's  very  gospellers, 

And  too  mine  own. ' ' 


VI. 

The  Spectacle  of  the  Genii. 

The  First  Gemus. 

Here  I  throw  off  my  Time-long  disguise 

Woven  of  gossamers  fleeting 

Which  flash  and  vanish  each  moment, 

Shadowy  images  of  my  one  real  being, 

Known  as  events  of  the  world. 

I  am  the  Genius  of  History, 

The  Overlord  I  of  mundane  occurences 

Which  I  guide  to  my  goal's  ultimatum 

Over  persons,  peoples,  races,  aye  continents. 

All  of  them  manifest  me  in  my  travail 

To  bring  forth  the  plan  universal ; 

They  are  my  organs  several  outside, 

While  I  am  the  whole  within, 

Director  of  Earth's  temporalities, 

(283) 


284     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

I  the  Super-President 

Over  all  Presidents,  Emperors,  Kings. 

0  Lincoln,  to  you  I  came  but  a  stranger, 
As  you  stepped  into  Washington's  place; 
Your  first  weeks  in  the  White-House 

1  fitfully  haunted,  a  guest  uninvited, 

Yet  not  unwelcome,  for  you  would  know  me, 

And  I  also  sought  you,  the  man  of  the  hour, 

Bound  whom  as  a  center  was  whirling  an  epoch. 

Slowly  you  came  to  fathom  my  purpose, 

And  me  to  discern  in  mine  own  right  form 

Working  through  all  your  trials,  misfortunes, 

And  e'en  through  your  own  greatest  failures, 

For  every  failure  you  learned  to  make  over, 

And  aye  too  your  faults 

Into  a  new  and  deeper  bond  with  my  being ; 

I  could  never  shake  off  your  hold  of  me 

When  once  you  had  gripped  me, 

Even  under  my  hardest  chastising 

Sent  in  war's  calamities. 

If  I  smote  you,  you  only  rose  higher, 

Knowing  me  better  just  for  the  blow, 

Since  you  would  recognize  then  my  last  meaning, 

And  hear  in  disaster  the  voice  of  the  ages, 

Voice  universal  of  Justice — 

Justice  now  to  be  done  to  all,  for  all,  by  all, 

Proclaiming  my  law  as  sovereign, 

For  I  am  the  World's  Tribunal  supreme. 


THE  SPECTACLE  OF  THE  GENII.  285 

Dreadful  you  deem  my  discipline, 

But  you  have  served  your  apprenticeship  to  me, 

Me  the  stern  pedagogue  over  the  Nations, 

Which  I  have  trounced  down  the  centuries 

All  the  way  from  Euphrates  hoary 

And  the  primeval  Nile-stream, 

Through  the  Europe  of  many  divisions 

Mutually  flaying  and  braying  themselves, 

Each  ever  seeking  to  swallow  the  other 

And  thus  to  bring  forth  a  Union 

But  totally  impotent; 

Then  I  laid  my  inflexible  hand 

Upon  your  American  people 

Sparing  not  you  in  person  the  foremost, 

That  I  train  you  all  to  take  the  next  step 

Out  of  the  old  world,  so  long  my  abode, 

Into  the  new  one  here,  your  heritage  higher 

And  mine  too,  as  I  strive  toward  my  goal 

Hid  in  the  far-off  aeons. 

But  you,  0  Lincoln,  have  learned  your  vocation, 
The  loftiest  on  this  watch  of  old  Time, 
Learned  it  and  loved  it  e  'en  under  the  scourge — 
You  know  my  commandments,  aye  you  create  them, 
The  judgments  of  the  World-Spirit. 
You  have  grown  to  be  one  with  me  now, 
My  intimate  dearest  on  Earth  I  deem  you, 
Transfigured  into  myself 


286     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Just  through  your  new  crucifixion. 
With  me  you  hither  have  come  to  Richmond 
Over  the  bloody  boundary  fated  so  long 
Which  lately  you  have  been  bold  to  erase, 
You  my  greatest  vicegerent  on  earth. 
And  now  in  this  Capitol's  chair  of  State 
You  are  installed  with  me  at  your  side, 
My  presence  seen  of  you  only, 
And  yet  wholly. 

Here  I  shall  you  whisper  a  secret 
Known  to  me  alone  concerning  this  house 
Where  we  have  taken  supremacy 's  station : 
Oft  in  the  past  I  visited  Richmond 
Seeking  to  give  my  message  to  Davis 
As  well  as  to  you  in  the  White-House, 
Impartial  as  History's  spirit, 
For  I,  the  great  Whole,  am  of  both  sides. 
But  I  never  could  bring  him  to  listen, 
He  had  no  ear,  no  soul,  for  my  impress 
But  scouted  my  thought  of  a  reckoning, 
Insolent  to  me  in  victory, 
Unteachable  still  by  misfortune, 
He  never  would  take  my  instruction 
Even  when  written  most  plainly  by  failure, 
Ignoring,  defying  me,  e'en  to  the  last, 
Till  I  told  him  one  day  at  his  prayers : 
"  Lincoln  is  coming  and  soon  will  be  here 


THE  SPECTACLE  OF  THE  GENII.  287 

To  preside  in  your  seat  at  the  Capitol, 

For  you  have  blasphemed  me." 

So  I  quit  him  being  rejected, 

I,  the  genius  creative  of  doings  historic, 

And  the  father  of  Time's  greatest  offspring, 

Have  become  entirely  yours,  0  Lincoln, 

For  you  have  affirmed,  yea  loved  me. 

Access  you  have  to  my  innermost  soul, 

And  you  think  with  my  thought, 

And  foresee  with  my  foresight ; 

Yes,  you  have  risen  to  be  one  with  my  purpose, 

And  can  decree  of  yourself  what  I  am, 

Voicing  the  Overself  ruling  all  History, 

And  decreeing  my  judgment. 

Hearken  me  say  you  another  word : 

'Tis  you  who  have  made  me  known  to  your  Folk 

Through  the  gift  of  your  utterance  worthy, 

That  I  indwell  them  more  conscious 

Than  any  people  ever  existent ; 

Soldiers  embattled  are  ware  of  my  presence, 

And  those  at  home  are  cognizant  of  me 

Reading  your  words  that  proclaim  my  edicts, 

For  you  seem  tongued  with  omnipresence 

So  quickly  your  speech  fleets  rounding  the  land 

And  even  the  globe  with  its  races. 

You  are  the  new  mediator 

Between  me  the  ideal,  and  the  Folk  the  real ; 


288     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

I,  the  pure  Intelligence 

Must  enter  the  Will  of  the  people 

Making  it  overflow  into  Time's  loftiest  deeds 

Through  you,  the  one  Great  Man 

Bringing  my  hest  to  fulfilment — 

But  here  it  comes,  the  Folk's  Genius  itself 

And  in  its  own  right  will  bespeak  you,  0  Lincoln. 

The  Second  Genius. 
Let  me  gather  myself  together 
And  single  appear  to  this  Presence, 
Endowed  with  one  tongue: 
I  the  multitudinous  people's  one  person, 
Call  me  the  Folk-soul, 
For  I  too  have  a  soul  and  a  voice, 
I  put  on  my  semblance  aerial 
To  be  one  of  the  muster  of  regnant  ghosts 
Convoked  at  this  Capitol  fallen 
Eound  you,  0  Lincoln,  the  triumphator. 
Though  the  second  Genius  I  come  to  this  place 
In  the  order  supernal, 
Still  I  am  your  oldest  acquaintance, 
Even  the  first  one  of  your  first  life 
Reaching  back  to  the  cradle. 

But  not  only  from  birth  have  I  known  you, 
E  'en  at  conception  I  breathed  on  your  soul 
From  mine  own  in  creative  intimacy ; 


THE  SPECTACLE  OF  THE  GENII.  289 

I  have  stayed  your  familiar  ever  since  then 

Attuning  all  your  career  up  and  down, 

Feeling  my  deepest  unity  with  you, 

Your  personality  brothering  mine, 

Till  at  last  I  show  me  to  you  in  person 

Here  on  this  your  top  of  existence, 

When  substances  shadow  themselves  to  your  vision 

And  spirits  dart  over  the  border 

To  salute  you  too  as  their  own. 

I,  the  centered  Genius  whole  of  the  Folk, 

Am  one,  yet  composed  of  many, 

One  soul  made  up  of  all  souls, 

Many  millions  of  them  together, 

Individuals  of  the  people 

Summed  all  into  one  individual 

Whose  eidolon  rises  before  you  now  speaking. 

Ah  me,  what  have  I  not  suffered 

In  this  crimsoned  desolation  of  war! 

Still  the  agony  willing  I  dared, 

To  heal  my  partition  to  wholeness 

Which  I  now  for  the  first  feel  here  with  you, 

Balsamed  by  your  presence  remedial 

Into  a  soul  and  body  integral 

Hymning  eternal  their  harmony. 

So  I  have  taken  the  desperate  burden 

Fulfiling  the  task  put  upon  me 

By  the  dominant  Genius  of  History 


290     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

At  one  of  his  epochal  nodes, 
Whom  I  here  see  personal  with  me 
Though  long  I  have  known  his  possession 
Lurking  and  working  inside  me, 
Obeying  your  voice,  0  Lincoln. 

And  let  me  touch  my  fault  in  confession : 

At  first  I  shrank  back  from  the  outlook, 

I  would  play  coward  to  the  "World's  Order, 

Till  you  bade  me  arise  on  Sumter  's  fall, 

And  harnessed  me  to  the  car  of  the  ages 

For  saving  the  Nation. 

Well  do  I  know  that  I  could  not  have  done  it 

Without  the  right  man  intermediary 

Between  me,  the  Folk,  and  the  Regent  supernal — 

This  Super-President  over  all  History, 

Whom  too  you  have  won  as  your  own, 

And  drawn  to  this  spectral  celebration 

In  Richmond's  Capitol. 

You  have  been  my  teacher  of  the  Eternal, 

Of  what  is  my  function  supreme  among  Nations ; 

You  can  look  back  and  say  to  me  now 

That  you  have  led  me,  your  people, 

Round  the  pivotal  point  of  the  century, 

Perchance  of  the  whole  millenium, 

Putting  yourself  in  line  of  the  ages 

With  whose  spirit  you  kept  up  communion, 

And  filling  me  with  its  sovereign  behest 


THE  SPECTACLE  OF  THE  GENII.  291 

Through  the  height  of  your  word  and  deed. 
Yours  was  the  personal  interflow 
From  the  Prime  Mover  down  into  me, 
That  I  do  my  part  in  the  grand  Whole 
Which  is  the  goal  of  the  flight  of  the  Earth-ball. 
Before  your  time  I  was  twain  from  my  birth, 
But  here  I  feel  first  my  integrity 
Through  you  the  Folk-soul's  healer, 
Tapping  the  high  remedial  world  above  me 
And  letting  it  stream  down  into  my  scission, 
To  heal  me  to  health  and  wholeness. 
Your  brain,  I  repeat,  was  the  middleman 
Through  whom  I  won  myself  whole, 
Imbued  with  the  Genius  of  History 
Upper  artificer  of  Time's  high  happenings 
In  the  movement  of  all  the  Globe's  peoples 
Bounding  their  continents. 

But  hold !  that  voice  of  our  overworld 

Gives  signal  once  more  of  imparting  its  message 

To  you,  its  foremost  intelligencer. 

So  I  shall  crouch  behind  it  and  listen 

For  I  still  have  something  to  learn. 

The  First  Genius  Again. 

One  more  confession  I  yet  have  to  breathe  you, 
Which  I  omitted  before,  0  Lincoln ; 
You  have  risen  to  be  my  teacher, 


292     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

As  I  have  been  yours ; 

I  too  have  been  taking  a  lesson 

Even  while  giving  you  mine, 

For  I  have  had  to  unfold  into  being 

With  the  Time's  evolution  and  yours. 

Now  incorporate  in  your  career  I  have  grown ; 

Only  a  thought  I  previously  fleeted 

Which  must  utter  its  last  completion 

Incarnate  in  the  epoch's  Great  Man. 

But  you  have  made  me  rightly  real, 

Bringing  me  down  to  indwell  the  whole  people ; 

Henceforth  in  you  I  shall  live  through  the  ages, 

Even  if  I  have  told  my  nodes  of  existence 

In  the  past  of  other  famed  Nations. 

For  a  new  orb  of  my  life  I  enter  with  you, 

You  have  transformed  me,  0  Lincoln, 

Me,  the  world-orderer  regal 

You  have  made  a  democrat; 

Hitherto  I  was  History's  autocrat, 

Dictating  to  Statesmen  and  States, 

Throned  above  their  supremacy, 

The  monarch  over  monarchies, 

Ruling  them  all  from  above  downward; 

And  so  still  I  must  do,  not  here 

But  across  the  two  oceans, 

Where  lies  brooding  the  huge  hemispherical  East 


THE  SPECTACLE  OF  THE  GENII.  293 

Of  Asia  and  Europe — 

My  earliest  home  and  your  own. 

But  here  I  must  build  my  new  throne 

Out  of  the  people's  very  material, 

Informed  of  their  will  and  conviction, 

Exerting  my  sovereignly  thence 

As  you  have  set  the  example,  0  Lincoln, 

To  me  the  Genius  of  the  World's  History, 

Leading  the  people  from  within  upwards 

Through  their  own  self-government. 

And  in  the  future,  be  it  near  or  far-off, 

I  dare  foresay  the  old  Nations,  the  oldest, 

Will  be  veering  to  follow  your  model, 

Letting  me  move  them  too  from  within, 

For  I  the  World-Spirit  have  turned  democratic, 

Rejuvenant  from  my  old  days 

Through  you  and  your  people,  0  Lincoln. 

Speak  me,  you  too  are  spirit 

Communing  with  spirits 

Here  on  the  Capitol  height  of  Richmond, 

Which  now  looks  grandly  transfigured 

In  this  atmosphere  ghostly. 

The  Third  Genius. 

So  you  adopt  me,  once  the  rail-splitter, 
Me,  simple  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  Westerner, 
Into  your  high  circle  of  Providences, 


294     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Exalting  me  to  the  third  Genius 
Who  is  mediator  between  you. 
Yes  I  think  I  have  known  you  both 
As  participants  twain  of  my  deed 
From  the  beginning  till  now. — 

But  see !  at  my  thought  each  is  fleeting  away 

Mistily  swooning  out  of  my  vision, 

As  the  messenger  calls  me  and  calls  me 

With  outcry  renewed 

To  come  down  from  your  dream-world 

Far  over  doming  the  top  of  this  Capitol, 

Into  the  presence  of  the  day's  visitor, 

The  hero  of  Sumter, 

Who  has  also  been  drawn  to  this  center 

By  some  deep  gravitation  of  soul. 

Responsive  he  touches  my  mood, 

Somehow  his  person  comes  up  here 

Interlinking  the  first  and  the  last 

Of  the  quadrennial  struggle 

Cycling  my  Presidency, 

Rounding  out  Fate  to  Unfate. 

Still  I  feel  loth  to  forego 

This  spectral  comradery 

Of  my  overearthly  visitation, 

So  used  have  I  become  to  their  intercourse 

Which  tells  me  the  time's  pure  Essences. 


THE  SPECTACLE  OF  THE  GENII.  295 

Unwitting  I  saw  them  fleet  hither 

And  talk  their  ghostly  dialect, 

Which,  me  thinks,  I  have  lessoned  fairly; 

Unwilling  I  see  them  depart — 

Well,  here  is  the  man  himself  in  body, 

Heroic  of  one  turning  event. — 

Welcome !  and  lofty  greetings  to  you, 

Robert  Anderson,  fellow-soldier  mine 

Of  long-ago  and  of  now. 


VII. 

Robert  Anderson's  Visit. 

Anderson. 

I  could  not  deny  myself  the  satisfaction  of 
felicitating  you  at  this  Capitol  on  my  way  to  the 
South.  I  am  going  again  to  Fort  Sumter  which 
has  had  its  second  fall,  not  so  noisy  as  the  first, 
though  we  intend  to  celebrate  our  new  possession 
of  it  by  a  little  peaceful  jubilancy.  It  is  my  part 
to  hoist  the  old  flag  over  the  spot  where  I  once 
had  to  haul  it  down,  four  years  ago  within  a  few 
days.  Thus  I  have  been  chosen  to  perform  two 
significant  acts,  betokening  the  outbreak  and  the 
cessation  of  our  great  struggle.  As  I  was  passing 
along  this  coast,  I  heard  of  your  being  in  Rich 
mond,  and  I  felt  that  I  must  pay  you  a  visit  as 
President  of  the  whole  United  States.  Then  I 

(296) 


ROBERT  ANDERSON'S  VISIT.  297 

would  fain  show  you  a  mark  of  my  strong  personal 
affection. 

The  President. 

Our  first  hero,  Robert  Anderson!  no  man  could 
be  more  welcome !  In  fact,  my  mind  was  reverting 
to  you  as  the  starting  point  of  this  far-sweeping 
turn  of  destiny  which  seems  about  to  round  itself 
out  to  its  conclusion  just  here. 

Anderson. 

It  certainly  looks  so.  In  like  manner  my  mem 
ory  has  been  whirling  backward  not  only  to  Sum- 
ter,  but  to  that  early  day  when  I  first  saw  you 
soldiering  in  Illinois.  But  can  you  not  come  with 
us  now  to  Charleston  ? 

The  President. 

No,  I  must  stay  here  a  few  hours  longer,  then 
turn  back  Northward.  Besides,  I  confess  that  the 
time  wrings  from  me  more  pity  than  exultation. 
Still  I  issued  the  order  for  your  festivity,  thinking 
that  where  the  first  gun  was  fired  against  the 
Union,  there  should  be  a  little  triumph.  But  a 
far  deeper  emotion  overflows  me  than  that  spring 
ing  from  your  anniversary.  I  recall  the  evening 
when  the  news  of  Sumter's  surrender  first 
reached  Washington.  The  problem  crushed  me;  I 


298     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

knew  not  whither  to  turn,  I  thought  I  would  have 
to  give  up  the  ghost  out  of  sheer  anxiety,  and  I 
still  believe  that  the  crucial  moment  of  the  Nation's 
life  was  just  then  at  the  point  of  starting  to  toll. 
Do  you  know  upon  what  human  personality  the 
future  of  us  all  pivoted  then  almost  to  the  second  ? 

Anderson. 

Upon  you  of  course — I  can  conceive  of  none 
other. 

The  President. 

Not  at  all — but  upon  Douglas,  my  life-long  an 
tagonist,  to  whom  my  first  task  is  now  to  do  justice. 
Without  his  support  I  would  not  have  dared  to 
answer  the  attack  on  Sumter  by  the  call  for  sol 
diers.  He  came  of  his  own  accord  that  same  even 
ing  and  offered  his  service,  which  meant  also  that 
of  his  party  not  only  in  the  North,  but  also  in  the 
Border-States.  Here,  perched  on  the  height  of 
victory,  I  proclaim  that  with  him  rose  to  me  the 
future  Union  of  these  States.  I  was  unstrung  by 
despair  till  I  saw  him  enter  my  room  at  the  White- 
House,  displaying  his  dark  strong  features  knitted 
tensely  with  resolution.  The  restored  Nation 
seemed  to  march  at  his  side;  it  had  still  to  fight 
and  to  be  fought  for,  but  the  possibility  of  it 
dawned  on  the  spot;  what  is  now  and  here  began 
to  sprout  then. 


ROBERT  ANDERSON'S  VISIT.  299 

Anderson. 

You  speak  with  deep  pathos,  tinged  with  a  sort 
of  penitence.  But  the  country  regards  you  as  its 
savior. 

The  President. 

And  I  regard  Douglas  as  my  savior.  He  came 
up  and  grasped  me  by  the  hair  when  at  the  point 
of  sinking.  I  intend  to  do  him  full  justice  by  my 
pen  at  the  first  leisure,  if  I  find  any  such  boon 
while  alive.  And  the  country  seems  to  have  for 
gotten  his  supreme  service  in  the  general  jubila 
tion.  Still,  only  he  and  I  ever  knew  the  whole 
story  of  that  evening's  interview,  and  the  epoch- 
bearing  results  which  flowed  out  of  it  not  only  for 
our  country  but  for  all  posterity.  But  he  is  gone 
and  I  am  left  alone  to  correct  the  record.  Let  this 
fallen  Capitol  be  my  ever-jogging  memorandum. 

Anderson. 

Douglas  will  yet  receive  his  dues.  But  Mr. 
President,  I  have  made  this  little  detour  on  my 
trip  to  the  South  that  I  might  bring  back  to  you 
some  old  memories  with  which  my  head  in  these 
last  weeks  has  been  running  over.  I  mustered  you 
out  as  a  soldier  in  the  Black  Hawk  War  quite  a 
generation  ago,  when  I  was  a  young  Lieutenant  of 
the  United  States  Army,  and  you  were  a  tall  strap- 


300     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

ping  fellow  in  Western  butternut,  but  with  yet 
taller  ideas  in  your  brain  which  then  gave  token 
of  what  you  were  to  be.  Your  unique  personality 
left  its  impress  upon  me  then,  and  the  intervening 
years  have  never  blotted  it  out.  You  have  become 
a  great  fulfilment. 

The  President. 

I  am  happy  to  have  you  think  so.  But  what  I 
remember  best  is  your  discussion  with  Jefferson 
Davis,  then  a  young  officer  with  you  and  others 
in  that  border  war  against  the  Indians.  When  I 
entered  your  headquarters  to  be  sworn  in  as  Cap 
tain  of  volunteers,  you  and  he  were  in  hot  debate 
over  the  nullification  of  South  Carolina  transpiring 
about  that  time,  and  you  spoke  of  what  might  take 
place  in  the  forts  of  Charleston  Harbor.  Even 
the  possibility  of  attacking  Sumter  was  then  men 
tioned  ;  Davis  said  he  would  open  fire  on  it  in  de 
fense  of  State  Rights.  Never  shall  I  forget  your 
answer  on  the  spot:  "And  I  would  fire  back." 
I  have  had  occasion  to  recall  your  words  and  your 
looks  a  thousand  times,  so  that  I  can  say  also  to 
you  in  your  own  phrase:  you  have  become  a  ful 
filment. 

Anderson. 

So  is  it  perhaps.  Still  mine  was  only  the  brief 
little  prelude  to  the  drama  of  which  you  are  the 


ROBERT  ANDERSON'S  VISIT.  3Q1 

towering  center.  But  I  too  have  never  forgotten 
that  incident  with  its  strange  forecast.  Indeed 
when  I  went  to  Charleston  Harbor  as  commandant, 
the  old  thought  haunted  me  as  debated  on  the  bor 
der,  and  when  Davis  took  his  seat  as  President  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  I  could  hear  his  former 
words  echoing  ominous  on  the  air.  I  always  felt 
in  advance  what  was  coming,  indeed  my  actions 
followed  on  lines  which  I  already  foreknew;  I 
seemed  to  have  no  choice,  but  to  carry  out  the  work 
prescribed  long  since;  and  when  the  cannonade 
opened  on  Sumter,  I  had  heard  it  all  before  and 
had  seen  its  red  glare  crimsoning  sea  and  land. 

The  President. 

Similar  has  been  my  experience.  How  we  pre- 
enacted  the  far-reaching  events  of  History  out 
there  in  that  log  cabin  on  the  frontier!  And  that 
Black  Hawk  War  has  often  appeared  to  me  as  the 
prophecy  of  my  whole  career ;  I  still  live  back  into 
it  and  glimpse  its  foreshadowing  of  things  to  be.  In 
itself  it  was  hardly  more  than  a  promenade;  I 
never  got  sight  of  a  fighting  Indian,  but  I  did 
get  sight  of  this  rebellion  and  felt  a  faint  premo 
nition  of  my  coming  part.  It  was  my  first  discipline 
for  my  last  vocation.  I  take  pleasure  in  looking 
back  at  it  from  this  very  place  which  seems  to 


302     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

round  it  out  to  a  finish,  and  to  verify  its  predic 
tion. 

Anderson. 

As  the  remembrance  gratifies  you,  let  me  recall 
something  else  which  hit  me  an  unforgettable  blow. 
It  was  that  thump  of  your  huge  fist  which  you 
brought  down  on  the  table  before  Davis  when  you, 
holding  up  your  hand  high  over  him,  had  taken  the 
oath  to  the  Constitution,  which  he  had  adminis 
tered.  It  startled  him,  it  seemed  almost  directed 
at  him  as  if  he  felt  in  it  some  far-off  meaning  which 
time  would  interpret.  He  spoke  of  it  afterwards 
with  a  kind  of  forecast  in  his  look.  I  wonder  if 
he  is  thinking  of  it  at  present  as  we  are.  If  he  is 
like  me,  he  can  hardly  help  recalling  that  scene 
with  you  in  the  log  cabin.  He  must  now  be  fleeing 
for  dear  life  from  the  awful  hand  once  raised  up 
there  before  him  to  take  the  oath. 

The  President. 

Poor  fellow,  I  wish  from  my  heart  that  he  may 
elude  capture  and  get  out  of  the  country.  If  he  is 
taken  I  may  have  difficulty  in  saving  him; 
I  have  not  the  least  thirst  for  a  drop  of  his  blood. 
I  cannot  tell  you  how  strong  is  my  solicitude  that 
not  another  life  be  taken  in  this  war ;  no  hangings, 
no  shootings,  and  very  little  prison,  if  any,  for 


ROBERT  ANDERSON'S  VISIT.  3Q3 

these  brave  men  who  are  now  down  under.  I  tell 
you,  Anderson,  my  sympathy  has  become  two- 
sided,  for  the  defeated  as  well  as  for  the  def eaters ; 
and  my  brain  hitherto  halved  against  the  enemy, 
is  now  getting  to  be  whole,  by  including  just  them 
into  its  scope.  Only  thus  can  I  rid  that  old  rent 
out  of  me  and  out  of  the  Nation.  Our  Union  must 
be  inner,  not  outer  merely,  one  of  heart  as  well  as 
of  authority.  That  division,  now  to  be  obliterated 
I  hope,  I  have  often  conceived  in  my  thought  as  the 
Line  of  Fate. 

Anderson. 

How  strange  again!  My  mind  has  been  brood 
ing  over  the  same  theme  in  a  dreamy  pre-figure- 
ment.  But  this  final  act  at  Sumter  floats  before 
me  like  a  huge  circle  beaded  with  great  events;  I 
call  it  the  Ring  of  Fate  which  I  am  going  to  help 
interlink  and  so  finish. 

The  President. 

Surprising  vocable!  how  it  fits  to  and  fills  out 
my  wonted  words.  My  Fatal  Line  is  thus  rounded 
out  and  brought  to  its  completion;  thus  it  has  be 
come  rightly  not  the  Ring  of  Fate  but  of  Unfate. 

Anderson. 

And  yet  I  have  a  dread  misgiving  of  another 
Fate  suspended  over  us,  some  counterstroke  to  that 
day  of  celebration  at  its  topmost  happenings. 


304     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

The  President. 

Such,  downbursts  of  gloom  are  natural,  I  have 
them  too.  But  suppress  all  these  forebodings,  do 
not  let  them  cloud  your  jubilant  mood;  you  will 
survive  as  you  did  before  in  a  far  greater  danger. 

Anderson. 

Farewell,  my  President;  I  may  not  see  you 
again.  My  presentiment  aches  for  you. 

The  President. 

Dismiss  me  from  your  mind,  think  of  what  you 
are  soon  to  witness.  Over  Charleston  Harbor  the 
guns  again  will  roar,  the  sky  will  be  coursed  by 
streams  of  fire,  the  batteries  on  sea  and  land  will 
belch  forth  flames  not  now  of  death  but  of  rejoic 
ing,  you  will  unfurl  anew  to  the  ocean's  breeze  the 
dear  banner  which  you  were  once  forced  to  furl — 
you  being  the  connecting  link  in  the  festal  emblem, 
which  to  my  fantasy  tokens  for  the  Nation  the 
Ring  of  Unfate. 

Anderson. 

Somehow  I  feel  unwilling  to  leave  you  in  your 
personal  crisis  which  seems  to  be  approaching.  At 
the  sight  of  you  my  heart  opens  an  eye  within  itself 
which  is  dropping  tears. 


ROBERT  ANDERSON'S  VISIT.  3Q5 

Lincoln. 

My  brave  soldier,  invoke  now  the  strong  self- 
suppression  which  your  calling  must  have  taught 
you.  But,  since  you  so  wish  it,  stay  a  little  longer 
in  the  city;  I  soon  have  to  make  a  visit,  when  I 
shall  be  glad  to  have  you  with  me.  Come  to  me 
again  this  mid-afternoon,  when  I  shall  be  free  of 
the  impatient  thoughts  which  are  now  thumping 
in  my  brain  and  insist  upon  being  born. 


VIII. 

The  Ring  of  Unfate. 

» 

Lincoln  Alone. 

So  comes  floating  my  whole  life's  round-up 

In  fleet  panorama  before  me, 

As  I  look  out  from  this  Capitol 

Viewing  the  turns  of  the  circling  Past 

With  a  glimpse  of  the  shutting  Future. 

Robert  Anderson  is  now  to  go  back 

And  to  take  Fort  Sumter  uncannonaded, 

Holding  it  as  he  did  four  years  since 

When  the  first  bullet  rebounded  from  it 

Overturing  the  outburst  volcanic, 

And  changed  mad  mutter  to  the  red  overflow 

Signalling  floods  of  carnage. 

Thus  that  deed  of  the  city  and  State 

Once  done  in  Charleston  Harbor 

(306) 


THE  RING  OF  UNFATE.  3Q7 

By  all  peopled  Palmettodom, 

Has  returned  undoing  the  doer 

Through  wide  Space  and  long  Time 

To  its  original  well-head. 

The  start  and  the  close  of  the  entire  war 

With  its  thousands  of  single  encounters 

Thousands  of  miles  apart, 

Winding  all  over  the  face  of  the  land 

Through  four  annual  cycles 

Have  come  together  and  interblent 

Conjoining  beginning  and  end, 

As  if  to  uphold  the  whole  chain  of  events 

Like  the  fabled  coil  of  the  world-serpent 

Circling  the  sphere  of  the  earth, 

Suspending  it  safe  above  Chaos, 

Till  the  grand  overturn 

When  Cosmos  itself  turns  rebel. 

How  the  event  doth  whisper  my  mystery 

And  tell  the  secret  of  Providence 

Through  this  God-souled  cycle  of  Time 

Almightily  circumstanced, 

Revealing  the  orbit  of  man's  whole  deed 

In  its  struggles  to  get  round  to  itself 

Through  all  the  devious  turns  of  the  world 

And  the  human  convolutions  of  soul, 

That  it  bring  back  Justice  eternal 

To  the  spot  whence  first  it  was  driven — 

Outlining  the  Ring  of  Unfate. 


308      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

But  see !  a  new  chain  interlinking  the  war, 

Deeper  and  all-inclusive, 

Whirling  me  too  in  its  wide  revolution 

As  it  belts  together  the  Nation. 

It  starts  with  the  deed  of  Douglas 

Who  rises  before  me  at  present 

The  people's  Fate-compeller, 

As  he  hastened  to  me  in  the  White-House 

Having  heard  that  Fort  Sumter  had  fallen. 

Still  I  behold  his  leonine  look 

Backed  by  the  mightier  will 

Which  braced  me  up  to  seal  with  my  action 

The  pivotal  moment  then  striking; 

He  brought  me  that  eve  the  Nation  united 

Whose  fulfilment  has  come  about  here, 

And  offered  himself  the  first  sacrifice 

Which  the  Powers  accepted. 

I  had  not  dared  issue  my  call  for  troops 

Without  his  assent,  yea  without  his  urgence, 

For  his  word  meant  a  million  of  men 

With  himself  as  leader  in  person. 

I  deem  him  my  first  enlisted  man 

And  greatest  of  all  of  us  then, 

Since  he  centered  the  folk  distracted, 

Round  the  idea  of  Union 

As  the  Nation's  true  destiny. 

No,  we  have  not  done  him  justice — 

I  must,  I  shall,  ere  this  moon  run  its  cycle. 


THE  RING  OF  UNFATE.  3Q9 

But  the  deed  of  his  which  envelopes  me  now 

Is  his  last  and  mightiest, 

"When  he  hurried  forth  to  his  State 

And  sounded  the  terrible  tocsin 

Rousing  the  West  to  its  duty  new, 

Till  it  rolled  down  the  roiled  Mississippi 

In  living  surges  of  valor, 

And  won  the  vast  valley-home  of  the  Nation, 

Then  wheeled  Eastward  to  the  Atlantic 

Whence  it  turned  to  the  North : 

And  yonder  it  lies  with  face  toward  Richmond, 

Halted  but  waiting  for  word  of  advance, 

Ready  if  need  be — but  there  is  no  need, 

When  the  President  is  himself  now  installed 

Ruling  over  this  Capitol. 

So  here  before  me  rises  the  Ring 

Rounding  the  war's  full  circle, 

Flowering  out  of  that  germinal  action 

Which  goes  back  to  Douglas 

Uniting  the  North,  dividing  the  South, 

As  the  original  seedsman 

Who  planted  the  germ. 

Somehow  again  I  vision  my  Fatal  Line 

Turning  a  shadowy  bend, 

Yet  strung  with  mighty  occurences 

Over  land,  sea,  and  time, 

Then  warily  winding  just  back  to  me  here, 


310      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Closing  together  upon  this  height, 

Enringing  the  War's  grand  total 

In  me  as  the  loop  of  the  first  and  the  last. 

So  I  stand  here  for  the  country  restored, 

Concluding  the  time's  whole  whirl 

Which  symbols  unfating  the  Nation 

From  its  division  demonic — 

Bounding  the  Ring  of  Unfate. 

How  well  I  foreknow  my  uttermost  portion 

That  whelms  upon  me  the  individual — 

Coupling  me  with  Douglas  again 

In  the  grave  as  in  life ! 

Our  dooms,  I  long  have  presaged,  are  one, 

Though  parted  by  the  whole  round  of  the  war, 

His  at  the  opening,  mine  at  the  finish, 

Our  lots  interlocked  e'en  in  death, 

His  uppermost  point  was  his  close, 

And  the  same  to  me  is  decreed ; 

The  deeds  of  us  both  have  been  joined  in  one 

Even  when  far  asunder 

As  are  the  living  and  dead. 

My  end  I  must  read  in  his, 

My  happiest  day  is  my  last, 

And  I  forefeel  its  nearing  arrival 

In  my  soul 's  pleasure  prophetic 

With  the  moment  propitious 

Of  the  Nation's  palingenesis, 


THE  RING  OF  UNFATE.  3H 

Whose  sign  is  this  Ring  of  Unfate 
Omening  godlike  fulfilment. 

0  Douglas,  from  yours,  the  first  Fate, 

1  have  circled  round  through  the  years 
To  meet  mine  own,  the  last  of  the  conflict, 
So  that  both  of  us  pass  off  together 

In  a  common  evanishment 
Despite  time's  interval." 

Lincoln  drooped  to  his  seat, 

Smit  by  the  sledge  of  his  thought 

For  he  saw  perched  over  the  Capitol 

His  counterpart  pale  looking  at  him 

As  if  seeking  to  lisp  him  its  secret, 

Then  sliding  away  to  airy  vacancy 

Unable  to  syllable  spirit; 

Such  he  had  often  stared  at  before 

In  Springfield,  e'en  in  the  White-House; 

But  now  rose  a  spectral  addition : 

Out  of  his  shadow  ran  rounded 

The  Ring  of  the  Nation's  Unfate 

Between  two  personal  Fates  colossal 

Pairing  the  time's  greatest  tragedies  twain, 

Deaths  gigantic  of  Giants. 

But  see  now  the  President's  look  renewed, 

Not  of  sorrow  but  of  radiance ! 

As  if  he  witnessed  the  very  death  of  Death 


312      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

And  felt  Eternity *s  seal  his  own! 

Such  a  serenity  has  never  been  his, 

Even  his  face  grows  fresh-featured 

And  loses  its  background  of  gloom 

As  if  welcoming  Fate. 

He  speaks  soliloquizing  his  mood 

In  a  wonder  joyed  at  himself 

Beholding  his  spirit's  new  pageantry. 

"What!  still  other  phantasms  coming 

To  address  me  as  one  of  their  own ! 

My  whole  being  turns  ghostly 

Here  in  this  Capitol  as  never  before, 

And  a  spectre  I  seem  to  myself 

Now  dealing  with  spectres 

Which  incarnately  voice  me, 

As  essences  true  of  all  of  my  sensations. 

Look !  a  fresh  set  of  dim  apparitions 

Are  shaping  into  my  vision; 

I  mark  their  character  different 

From  the  forms  gone  before, 

These  seem  mine  own,  born  of  myself, 

Now  gotten  outside  as  if  going  to  quit  me, 

Visible,  even  audible  by  me ; 

One  of  them  moodily  flits  to  a  figure 

Like  a  vampyre  prodigious 

Darkening  all  my  life's  horizon, 

Oft  taking  the  head  of  Medusa 

And  snapping  her  thousand  of  snake-hairs 


THE  RING  OF  UNFATE.  313 

To  venom  each  moment  of  Time. 

Then  behold  a  new  semblance 

Beside  me  upspringing  in  frolic 

Burlesquing  my  Stygian  moods ; 

Crook-faced  with  an  enormous  grimace 

Like  the  masque  of  laughter's  own  demon 

Sporting  grotesquery  infinite 

Against  the  curse  of  that  Gorgon, 

"With  Mirth  her  poison  to  medicine. 

Mark !  the  two  spectres  make  ready  to  fight 

For  supremacy  still 

Over  myself  tempered  doubly 

Between  two  extremes; 

All  my  life  I  have  known  their  battle 

In  perpetual  oscillation  haling  me 

Across  my  soul's  sunlight  and  shadow — 

But  I  presage  this  duel  their  last. 

Ha !  they  first  will  address  me  in  ghost-talk 

Even  our  phantasms  are  fond  of  stump-speaking." 


IX. 

The  Spectral  Duel. 

Melancholia. 

Do  you  recognize  me,  0  Lincoln, 

As  your  oldest  soul-mate  and  closest  ? 

I  have  taken  this  shape  for  your  sight, 

Hitherto  formless  within  you  lurking 

For  now  you  must  see  me  outside  you, 

Me,  as  I  am,  Melancholia 

Wont  to  suck  out  your  heart's  hottest  hope. 

Note  this  body,  these  bat-wings  clawed, 

Watch  me  grin  my  monstrous  incisors 

And  pucker  my  devilish  lips 

Whose  dark  burrow  would  pierce  to  your  life's 

spring, 

Your  inner  Vampyre  I  show  me 
Now  pushed  to  take  figure  before  you 
Flitting  outside  as  hitherto  never 

(314) 


THE   SPECTRAL   DUEL.  315 

Since  I  dropped  on  your  life  ante-natal. 

For  as  your  soul  fell  down  into  Time 

Turned  off  from  its  source  at  its  birth 

I  came  with  it  to  being ; 

You  as  a  child,  as  a  youth,  as  a  man, 

And  you  as  President  I  have  haunted 

"With  Fate's  inevitable  night-wings, 

Following  ever  your  life-line 

As  its  demonic  familiar, 

Up  till  this  nodal  moment  of  yours 

Rounding  the  Ring  of  Unfate, 

When  I  feel  myself  exorcised 

By  your  new-born  self  here  throned 

And  in  this  Capitol  won. 

Lincoln,  I  answer  your  unasked  question 
How  I  became  your  earliest  intimate : 
In  your  begetting  you  were  twinned  one 
With  the  heart  of  your  people ; 
The  cloud  overhanging  the  Folk-soul 
Spread  through  your  single  receptive  soul 
At  the  throb  of  its  primal  conception, 
And  darkened  your  days  till  the  present, 
As  if  your  parentage  were  the  whole  country. 
The  Nation  well  knew  the  spectre  of  me — 
Of  night-eyed  me,  Melancholia — 
Forefeeling  the  approach  of  a  judgment 
With  the  sword  overarching 


316      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Which  threatened  to  hew  it  in  two. 
You  were  born  into  that  gloom's  foreshadow 
And  in  it  did  share  by  creation 
From  your  earliest  being  atomic. 

But  now  that  overcast  gloom  of  division 

Which  was  begotten  into  this  Nation 

At  the  first  throb  of  its  origin, 

And  into  its  Law,  aye  into  its  Conscience, 

Was  likewise  born  into  you,  0  Lincoln, 

You  being  its  mole-marked  child 

Of  largest  inheritance. 

But  I  shall  freely  make  my  confession : 

The  hour  is  close  when  I  must  vanish 

Out  of  both  together,  both  you  and  the  Nation 

As  intercreated  of  each  other, 

For  the  Fatal  Line  no  longer  exists 

Which  begat  me  and  nourished  me 

In  each  person  and  the  whole  people — 

Me,  soul-shadowing  Melancholia, 

Who  cast  my  glowering  semblance 

Upon  the  blanched  Folk-soul  foreboding, 

As  it  saw  the  raised  blade  of  separation 

Flash  over  the  hope  of  the  Union 

From  the  first  day  of  its  origin. 

Hark !  that  music !    I  cannot  endure  it ! 
The  concord  of  national  jubilation 


THE   SPECTRAL    DUEL.  317 

Rifts  me  through  and  through, 

Till  my  gloom  bears  off  into  nowhere 

And  leaves  me  a  nothing. 

Now  I  must  go,  no  more  I  am  yours 

Since  you  have  flung  me  out  of  yourself 

To  view  me  as  object, 

Where  I  cannot  exist, 

Being  torn  from  myself. 

Then  those  harmonies  horribly  grate  me 

Which  you  have  made  your  own  inwardly : 

List !    Conscience  and  Law,  both  inner  and  outer, 

Attuned  to  one  joyous  key-note, 

And  choiring  in  unison  soul-deep 

Their  new  world-bearing  atonement. 

'Twas  on  their  discord  I  fed  hitherto 

When  they  were  dual  within  and  without, 

Each  fighting  itself  and  fighting  the  other, 

Creating  despair  in  hearts  patriotic. 

Then  I  throve  in  your  inner  existence 

Glooming  my  darkness  congenial ; 

But  now  both  worlds,  your  own  and  the  Folk 's 

Are  turning  transmuted  to  light  and  to  hope. 

See  yonder!  What  grisly  grimaces  horrible 

Caricaturing  me  in  my  native  glum-glums 

With  far-echoing  cachinnations ! 

'Tis  my  anti-self  coming  hither 

Always  playing  the  clown  to  me  fiendishly. 


318      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Off  I  must  fly  for  a  time,  0  Lincoln, 
But  on  the  imp  I  still  shall  avenge  me — 
I  go,  but  I  shall  come  back. 

Lincoln. 

0  Vampyre,  are  you  then  gone  indeed ! 
Can  it  be  you 

"Winging  away  into  Erebus, 
Your  home  primeval! 
How  you  have  nighted  my  life 
With  your  presence  infernal, 
Ever  my  day  overshadowing 
Till  often  I  thought  of  ridding  myself 
Of  the  soul-clawing  Harpy's  world-gloom, 
"When  despairful  of  betterment, 
By  one  last  stroke  of  releasing  Death ! 
You  have  stood  in  my  spirit 's  sunshine 
Crunching  my  days  into  chaos, 
Ever  since  memory's  dawn, 

0  Melancholia,  my  murky  yoke-fellow, 
Doomed  me  by  the  damnation  of  Dis. 
But  hark!  a  music  wildly  approaching 
Of  song's  maddest  dithyrambics 

Mid  shouts  saturnalian! 

A  motley  shape  laughs  limned  on  the  air: 

Well!  you  old  fun-maker,  speak! 

Momiis. 
Long  you  have  known  me,  0  Lincoln, 

1  too  am  your  soul's  first  familiar, 


THE   SPECTRAL   DUEL.  319 

The  counterpart  sun-begotten 

Unto  night's  misbirth,  Melancholia, 

Whose  devildom  always  I  shoo  away 

By  my  rollicking  drolleries ; 

Often  you  hearken  my  humorous  genius 

Whispering  merrily  fable,  anecdote,  story, 

To  scare  off  your  phantasms  fuliginous 

By  wee  tee-hees  and  high  ha-has 

Grotesqueing  my  masterful  incongruities. 

So  I,  Momus,  demigod  antique, 

Though  ever  re-born  in  your  spirit, 

Appear  to  you  now  on  the  outside, 

Kecounting  my  services  life-long 

Against  the  Vampyre  ever  triumphant 

When  she  met  you  alone  in  battle  uneven, 

So  that  you  sighed  for  death  up  to  God's  throne 

Till  I  might  suddenly  whisk  to  your  aid, 

And  spray  in  the  mouth  of  the  monster 

The  light-flashing  jets  of  my  humor 

Which  was  its  bitterest  medicine, 

Turning  it  inside  out  up  to  sunlight, 

Where  its  gloom  gleamed  into  gladness: 

Thus  I  became  your  soul's  most  intimate  healer. 

Soon  I  had  imparted  myself 

To  your  veriest  personality, 

And  colored  your  speech,  your  thought,  your  fame; 

So  I  grew  forming  the  bond  congenial 


320       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Between  you  and  the  mirth-loving  Folk-soul 

"Which  also  would  banish  the  Vampyre, 

As  the  smotherer  black  of  its  peace. 

I  may  not  be  deep  in  my  thinking, 

Or  beautiful  as  to  my  mimicking  phiz, 

Still  I  was  your  primal  cement  of  a  laugh 

Which  joined  your  star  and  the  people's 

In  a  marriage  eternal, 

Making  all  hearts  beat  happy  together 

"With  my  titillations  of  humor, 

Which  run  echoing  all  through  your  words 

Me  uttering,  Momus  your  darling. 

With  a  self -wondering  stare,  0  Lincoln, 

You  peer  down  into  the  depths  of  your  soul, 

And  ask  of  your  inner  oracle 

How  dropped  this  pair  so  antipathetic 

Into  the  first  fount  of  your  being? 

Let  me  tell  you  the  story, 

For  I  too  was  there  at  the  start, 

When  we  were  twinned  together: 

Mad  Momus,  sad  Melancholia. 

We  were  battling  in  the  conception, 

Paired  antagonists  even  as  spermules 

In  your  mother 's  womb ; 

Unborn,  we  grappled  and  fought 

Like  Cain  and  Abel  of  the  old  legend, 

For  your  soul's  full  possession, 


THE   SPECTRAL  DUEL.  321 

But  with  success  ever  varying. 
Thus  we  started  your  seesaw  of  life 
Swaying  back  and  forth  in  a  roundel; 
Whirled  between  glowing  and  glowering ; 
We  kept  up  the  swing  of  our  duel 
Through  boyhood  and  manhood, 
And  both  of  us  balanced  about  you 
As  you  entered  the  White-House, 
Still  fighting  each  other  in  you 
With  alternate  triumph  and  fall. 

But  more  tensely  than  ever  before 

Melancholy  won  power  to  fang  you 

In  the  midst  of  the  Nation's  disasters 

Unlocking  your  own  deepest  agonies ; 

Then  I  would  spring  up  her  twin  counterpart 

To  antidote  her  poisonous  work, 

Caricaturing  her  into  a  flight 

By  my  mockery's  antics 

Which  she  cannot  endure. 

Thus  I  would  outbalance  the  blood-sucker, 

Undoing  the  Vampyre's  hold, 

To  restore  your  life's  equilibrium 

That  reason  might  sway  you  again. 

But,  0  Lincoln,  let  me  confide  you 
I  must  vanish  with  Melancholia, 
I  feel  myself  waning  already, 


322      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

No  longer  your  day's  deepest  need 
To  outlet  your  soul's  unborn  sorrow, 
For  that  is  changing  to  Happiness, 
New  Goddess,  shrined  in  your  life 's  sheen, 
Unmooded,  soft-named  Eudemonia, 
Who  will  ban  your  first  gloom  of  Nature, 
And  stop  your  old  seesaw  of  Fate 
Between  Melancholia  and  Momus, 
Bounding  also  the  Ring  of  Unfate 
Along  with  the  Nation. 

Heretofore  we  have  battled  within  you, 

Twinned  together  just  through  our  difference 

Whose  cause  is  now  uncaused. 

We,  Melancholia  and  Momus, 

Once  seeking  to  put  down  each  other, 

We  also  are  fated  here  on  this  Capitol, 

Our  vocation  soon  will  be  gone — 

I  must  be  off — unless  that  Vampyre 

Dares  come  back  as  before 

To  a  final  encounter. 

For  she  is  not  as  dead  as  she  looks, 

I  long  have  known  her  woman's  subtlety, 

I  have  seen  her  revive  out  of  joys  extreme 

And  suddenly  take  self-possession. 

But  now  I  in  my  turn  must  droop. 

Lincoln. 

Go  not,  my  dearest  companion, 
Solacer  true,  my  releaser  of  world-pain, 


THE   SPECTRAL  DUEL.  323 

Healing  my  soul's  primal  scission, 

I  owe  thee  much  gratitude, 

E  'en  if  I  be  happier  now ; 

Still  I  know  the  approach  of  my  counterstroke 

My  happiest  moment  is  my  last — 

I  brood — I  swoon — my  two  familiars  again — 

They  rise  up  antipodal, 

Momus  and  Melancholia ! 

Look !  they  make  for  each  other ! 

The  Duel. 

Lincoln  had  sunk  down  into  his  soul 
Quite  beneath  the  line  of  self-knowledge, 
Weighted  by  words  of  both  phantoms 
So  insubstantial  of  substance, 
Yet  mightily  real  in  his  whole  life, 
Now  seen  by  him  as  they  are  in  themselves, 
Beings  disrobed  of  the  dress  of  their  deeds, 
Stript  of  the  glamour  of  circumstance. 
But  see !  the  two  plunge  amuck  of  each  other, 
They  have  grappled  in  mortal  wrestle 
And  are  fighting  their  ghostly  battle, 
Tumbling  their  spectral  forms  on  the  air 
Unclaimed  of  earth's  gravitation. 
Their  last  duel  of  thousands  it  is 
Now  to  be  fought  out  at  Richmond's  Capitol. 

The  Vampyre  Melancholia 
Spreads  out  her  bat-wings 


324      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Till  all  the  sunshine  darts  murky ; 
Then  she  with  the  hooks  of  her  pinions 
Seeks  to  drag  her  antagonist 
Into  her  night  and  there  end  him; 
Next  with  her  mouth  she  would  leech  him 
Of  all  his  joyous  red  vitality, 
That  he  petition  for  death. 
But  the  demi-god  Momus  runs  ready 
To  countervail  his  hostile  deviless ; 
He  pulls  down  his  Olympian  masque 
Of  the  God's  laughter  all  over-coming — 
Then  himself  yells  a  haha  of  triumph 
Like  ten  thousand  men, 
Thrilling  his  foe  to  a  smile  unwilling 
With  a  responsive  echo  in  Lincoln, 
"Who  stands  reverying  deep  into  both, 
As  if  dreaming  far  back  to  their  origins 
In  the  one  first  selfhood  of  man. 

Whereat  the  twain  do  not  again  tackle 
Renewing  their  combat, 
But  strive  to  give  up  to  each  other; 
Melancholia  sheds  her  darkness, 
Momus  drops  his  grotesque  masque, 
Both  embrace  and  vanish  all  interfusing, 
Self-undone  in  mutual  transformation. 
Behold,  they  become  one  fair  shape — 
Is  it  a  Goddess  beautiful,  stately? 


THE  SPECTRAL  DUEL.  325 

Hither  she  moves  and  seems  ready  to  speak 
To  the  President  rid  of  the  ancient  duel, 
Eadiant  of  peace  with  himself, 
Now  restored  to  God's  Harmony 
First-born  of  the  Universe : 
Hearken  the  motion  dulcet  of  lips : 

Eudemonia. 

Lincoln,  I  appear  to  thee  greeting, 
As  thy  new-born  felicity, 
Now  thy  young  genius  of  life. 
The  old  rent  in  thee  and  the  Nation 
Has  gone  out  of  thy  soul  with  my  birth, 
Ended  to-day  thy  inner  scission 
Between  those  doubles  once  with  thee  childed, 
Momus  and  Melancholia, 
Who  waged  the  civil  war  of  thy  spirit 
During  all  the  days  of  thy  life  hitherto, 
Till  now  concluded  in  peace  of  the  Nation. 

Lincoln. 

Beautiful  Eudemonia,  Goddess, 
Of  tenderest  voice, 

Fairer  than  Venus  me  thou  beshinest, 
Caressing  me  sweeter  than  Helen, 
By  name  I  have  known  thee  my  life  long, 
Yes,  I  often  have  lipped  thy  soft-flowing  name, 
But  never  before  hast  thou  kissed  me 


326      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Imbreathing  thy  love  on  my  two  extremes, 

Blending  in  marriage  my  Gloom  and  my  Mirth 

Placating  my  contraries  impish. 

Enter  me,  take  possession 

And  in  accord  with  thy  name 's  loving  promise, 

Be  thou  my  good  demon  henceforth 

Eudemonia  ever  propitious, 

Make  over  my  disposition  uneven, 

Angelic  housekeeper  mine  be  thou, 

Steading  my  inner  life 

To  the  end  of  my  days 

With  thy  hallowed  harmony. 

But  oh!  the  countersign  fateful! 

Again  falls  the  forecast  so  leaden ! 

Not  long  shall  I  live  to  be  thine 

My  love  is  mortal  to  me,  to  itself, 

Even  to  what  it  most  loves. 

But  bless  me  as  long  as  may  be, 

0  divine  Eudemonia,  guardian  spirit, 

Slide  into  my  soul  and  stay  there, 

Be  in  it  immortal, 

And  go  with  me  beyond 

Where  is  the  Presence  I  long  for, 

The  dearest  hope  of  my  heart, 

The  one  whom  I  love  still  over  yonder — 

Hark  the  dread  interruption ! 

What!  some  callers  again! 


THE   SPECTRAL   DUEL.  327 

High  gentlemen — yes  I  remember — 
And  I  must  keep  my  appointment 
With  the  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace 
To  visit  her  wounded  son. 

So  I  ever  must  swing  from  Happiness 

Back  to  the  Hospital 

As  the  Place  of  Suffering 

Which  still  I  shall  welcome 

As  a  part  of  God  Himself — and  of  me. 


At  the  Richmond  Hospital. 

Dr.  Palmetto    (alone). 

What  a  curse  has  fallen  upon  me!  Compelled 
to  witness  the  capture  of  Richmond  and  the  last 
gasp  of  Southern  aspiration!  I  begged  to  flee 
with  Davis,  but  I  was  ordered  to  stay  in  charge 
of  this  hospital  filled  with  our  wounded  and  dy 
ing,  like  our  Confederacy  itself,  whose  Capital  is 
now  under  the  heel  of  the  tyrant.  In  these  few 
days,  what  have  I  not  endured,  deaths  worse  than 
death!  Would  that  the  city  had  burnt  up  to  the 
last  house,  and  I  in  it.  Yankee  bluecoats  taking 
insolent  possession  without  a  fight,  black  soldiers 
proudly  parading  the  streets  on  horseback  and 
the  accursed  Stars  and  Stripes  flying  from  the 
Capitol  yonder.  I  turn  away  in  a  vomit,  I  cannot 
stomach  the  sight!  But  if  I  fall  back  on  my 

(328) 


AT   THE  RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  329 

thoughts,  they  are  still  more  desperate.  My  be 
loved  States  Rights  trampled  under  foot;  that 
old  despot,  the  Union,  riding  over  them  in  tri 
umph;  our  peculiar  institution  undone  and  the 
slave  set  above  the  master;  mine  own  South  Car 
olina,  most  daring  and  hottest-tempered  of  Com 
monwealths,  gutted  from  end  to  end  by  Sher 
man's  brigands;  Columbia  and  Charleston  in 
ruins  charred — and  soon,  I  hear,  the  Federal  flag 
which  I  saw  lowered  at  Sumter  is  to  be  raised 
again  over  that  fortress.  Is  not  that  Hell  enough 
for  one  poor  sinner? 

And  yet  I  confess  to  a  deeper  torture  in  which 
both  present  and  past  are  flaying  my  heart.  Lin 
coln  has  come  to  Richmond  exultant  over  it  and 
me,  the  North's  victorious  tyrant  is  installed  in 
our  Capitol.  The  South 's  very  devil  has  clutched 
her  at  the  most  vital  point.  But  to  me  he  is  yet 
more  Satanic;  memory  brings  me  its  bitterest 
dose  from  far-back  New  Salem,  where  he  was  my 
rival  in  love  and  won  the  dearest  of  Earth's 
prizes  from  me,  whose  recollection  still  throbs 
up  into  my  life  to-day.  0  fountain  of  my  heart 's 
wormwood  venoming  my  daylight  forever !  Hist ! 
a  rap !  a  visitor  appears,  a  woman  with  her  unwel 
come  blue-bloused  escort. 


330      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

The  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace. 
Salutation  to  you  who  are  the  surgeon  in 
charge.  I  have  learned  you  have  a  patient  here 
by  the  name  of  Captain  Lovelace  who  was 
wounded  in  the  late  battle  at  Fort  Stedman.  I 
am  his  mother,  and  I  have  a  mother's  longing  to 
see  him.  Ah  yes!  I  have  scanned  that  face  be 
fore — many  years  ago  it  is — this  must  be  Doctor 
Palmetto,  I  knew  you  in  the  West  on  the  banks 
of  the  Sangamon,  where  you  were  my  physician, 
and  you  doctored  this  same  Captain  there  when 
he  was  a  child.  How  dizzying  the  coincidence! 
and  it  is  not  the  only  one. 

Doctor  Palmetto. 

Your  son  is  much  improved;  we  have  talked 
together,  and  he  has  recalled  to  me  those  old 
times  which  I  would  rather  forget.  You  can  go 
in,  but  this  your  attendant  I  shall  have  to  exclude 
according  to  our  rules,  which  have  to  be  strict. 

Lady  Eulalia. 

But  here  is  a  pass  signed  by  the  President  of 
the  United  States,  permitting  both  of  us  to  enter. 
His  authority,  I  suppose,  is  now  supreme  in  Rich 
mond.  Anyhow  this  old  man  is  a  nurse  whom  my 
son  may  need — much  obliged;  that  silent  nod 
means  that  we  both  may  proceed. 


AT   THE   RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  331 

Doctor  Palmetto  (alone). 

What  a  humiliation !  Buffoon,  demagogue,  rail- 
splitter,  littered  of  the  South 's  poor  white  trash 
to  give  orders  to  Virginia's  aristocracy!  Think 
of  her  handling  and  cherishing  that  vile  piece  of 
paper  from  such  a  mudsill  of  a  President,  she  a 
Lovelace  of  the  South 's  bluest  blood!  And  trail 
ing  that  old  fellow  after  her,  whom  she  thought 
I  did  not  recognize — I  caught  his  snaky  eye 
through  all  his  white  hair  and  beard,  it  was  old 
Mentor  Graham  the  school-master  abolitionist  of 
New  Salem,  whom  I  would  have  driven  out  of  the 
village  but  for  Lincoln.  And  now  those  barbar 
ous  borderers,  Huns  of  the  West,  headed  by  their 
remorseless  Attila,  seem  to  be  dropping  down  into 
our  devoted  Richmond. 

Great  God!  must  I  take  this  last  pill  of  morti 
fication  !  Here  lights  upon  me  a  note  which  reads 
that  Lincoln  in  person  is  coming  to  visit  this  hos 
pital  with  some  of  his  Northern  understrappers. 
Evidently  he  expects  me  to  conduct  him  around 
with  the  usual  obeisances  and  flatteries  due  his 
position.  I  shall  not  do  it.  Let  him  take  my  hos 
pital  if  he  wants  it,  I  shall  skip  off  and  hide  my 
self  in  my  office. — Attendant,  go  and  direct  him 
to  whatever  he  may  wish  to  see. 


332      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

The  President. 

"Will  you  please  conduct  us  to  the  ward  occu 
pied  by  Captain  Lovelace.  And  if  his  mother  has 
arrived,  let  her  be  present.  Ah,  here  she  is 
already  with  her  bandaged  son.  Let  me  intro 
duce  both  of  you  to  these  three  friends  of  mine, 
who  have  accompanied  me  hither;  they  also  are 
taking  a  look  at  Eichmond  in  its  present  condi 
tion.  This  is  Marshal  Lamon  of  "Washington; 
General  Robert  Anderson  of  Sumpter  fame  comes 
my  next;  and  here  is  Senator  Sumner  of  Massa 
chusetts.  Step  up  a  little  out  of  your  modest 
background,  my  ancient  schoolmaster,  and  be 
presented;  gentlemen,  this  is  Mentor  Graham,  a 
man  whom  I  love,  formerly  worthy  torchbearer 
of  knowledge  on  our  frontier,  but  now  a  tender 
nurse  to  the  Blues  and  also  to  the  Grays. 

Captain  Lovelace. 

Mr.  President,  my  first  word  to  you  is,  I  am 
glad  that  you  escaped  us.  I  intend  my  speech 
should  make  you  look  puzzled  so  that  I  may  explain 
my  riddle.  Our  hope  was  that  we  might  capture 
you  down  at  Fort  Stedman.  We  had  heard  of  your 
departure  from  "Washington,  and  your  destina 
tion  was  known  at  our  headquarters,  even  the 
hour  when  you  might  arrive.  Most  of  your 
secrets  would  be  whispered  underground  to  us  in 


AT   THE  RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  333 

Richmond.  We  thought  that  a  last  throw  of  luck 
might  turn  you  into  our  hands.  We  did  not  care 
for  the  fort,  which  could  easily  be  re-taken,  we 
were  not  after  your  Generals,  not  even  Grant, 
whose  place  could  be  supplied.  We  all  felt  that 
you  were  the  soul  itself  of  the  Nation,  the  Over- 
General  of  all  the  Generals ;  your  personality  was 
our  objective  point,  otherwise  the  attack  was 
foolhardy,  despair's  mad  clutch  of  a  dying  cause. 
But  your  guardian  genius  was  too  wary  for  us  in 
the  end,  though  we  made  a  good  start,  and  so  we 
lost  our  sole  remaining  asset  against  failure.  I 
have  had  time  for  reflection,  saying  to  myself: 
this  fight  is  a  brief  epitome  of  our  whole  cause — 
success  as  the  overture  but  shipwreck  as  the 
finale. 

Lincoln. 

Another  marvel!  What  you  have  told  me, 
tallies  with  the  horrible  dream  which  hounded 
me  as  I  lay  asleep  on  board  my  boat  while  the 
fight  was  going  on.  An  enormous  serpent  coiled 
along  the  battle  line  and  undertook  to  lasso  me 
in  its  scaly  loops.  It  was  the  hardest  combat  I 
ever  had  with  the  original  devil  himself,  till  a 
colossal  female  rose  to  help  me — and  I  woke.  The 
dream  still  makes  the  sweat  bubble  out  of  me  at 
the  memory  of  it. 


334     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Lamon. 

Did  I  not  tell  yon  that  some  such  scheme  was 
afoot?  But  you  will  always  laugh  at  my  warn 
ings,  regardless  of  personal  peril.  You  now  ought 
to  realize  that  you  are  the  topmost  target  of  all  this 
war's  destructive  malice  on  both  sides,  which  is 
no  longer  in  the  open  but  secret.  And  this  is  not 
the  last  plot,  another  more  dangerous  is  brewing, 
because  more  insidious. 

Captain  Lovelace. 

Let  me  repeat  that  I,  as  a  Confederate,  rejoice 
in  your  escape,  and  fervently  wish  that  you  may 
still  be  saved  not  only  to  your  people  but  to  ours 
also.  I  deem  you  now  the  hope  of  the  South.  No 
doubt  there  remains  among  us  our  human  portion 
of  personal  rancor,  but  I  notice  by  the  newspapers 
that  your  side  is  not  free  of  a  similar  bitterness 
in  the  North  toward  their  kind-hearted  President. 

Lincoln. 

I  am  well  aware  that  both  sections  are  to 
learn  mutual  forgiveness  and  charity.  To  our 
external  Union  of  force  and  law  now  established, 
we  must  work  for  an  internal  Union  of  heart  and 
conscience.  But  tell  me,  where  is  the  main  official 
of  this  hospital,  the  head  surgeon.  I  would  like 
to  see  him  and  show  him  my  recognition. 


AT   THE   RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  335 

Lady  Eulalia. 

Let  me  give  you  another  surprise.  You  seem 
not  to  know  the  name  of  this  hospital's  chief  phy 
sician — he  is  none  other  than  our  old  Doctor 
Palmetto,  formerly  of  New  Salem,  whom  you  cer 
tainly  cannot  have  forgotten.  What  a  strange 
shock  his  face  gave  me  when  he  appeared !  I  had 
not  seen  or  heard  of  him  for  thirty  years,  still  I 
recognized  him  by  that  peculiar  cynical  snarl  in 
his  voice,  which  used  to  make  me  shiver.  He  has 
more  reason  than  ever  to  be  champion  fault-finder 
with  the  world  and  with  you,  who  was  his  village 
rival  in  love  and  politics.  He  has  grown  gray 
and  sparse-haired,  his  countenance  and  its  nasal 
thrust  are  more  sharp-pointed  than  ever,  especi 
ally  when  he  slips  around  bent  over  to  pry  into 
failings,  of  which  he  still  finds  enough  for  his 
appetite.  From  his  own  account  he  has  had  quite 
a  career  in  our  Secessia  since  you  became  Presi 
dent.  You  know  I  never  could  altogether  like 
him  or  his  State,  nor  did  Virginia;  still  they 
dragged  us  into  this  war  by  firing  on  Sumter, 
for  we  could  not  stand  co-ercion.  Well,  all 
that  is  now  settled,  I  suppose.  He  treated  me 
courteously,  but  took  exception  to  the  blue  uni 
form  of  my  attendant  here,  and  was  going  to  ex 
clude  him;  but  I  showed  the  pass  signed  by 
you — what  an  unearthly  grimace  did  he  make! 


336       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Still  he  let  us  proceed.  But  what  an  eerie  sensa 
tion!  Four  people  of  the  long-vanished  New 
Salem  I  see  here,  having  dropped  from  all  direc 
tions  into  this  Richmond  hospital!  I  feel  ghost- 
haunted  by  that  departed  village  entombed  upon 
the  distant  Sangamon. 

Lincoln. 

Four  of  us  phantasms  present !  "Well,  I  want  to 
see  the  fifth  one,  who  cannot  be  far  off.  Doctor 
Palmetto  is  still  shy  of  me,  but  I  shall  ever  re 
member  him.  Marshal  Lamon,  you  are  the  man 
to  fetch  him;  tell  him  with  due  politeness  that 
the  President  wishes  to  see  him  for  a  few  mo 
ments.  I  sent  a  note  that  I  was  coming,  though  of 
course  I  did  not  dream  that  I  was  writing  to 
another  New  Salemite,  and  that  too  my  all  round 
youthful  competitor,  Doctor  Palmetto.  Lady 
Eulalia,  I  feel  with  you,  only  more  decidedly  so ; 
I  begin  to  think  that  the  cosmic  egg  must  have 
been  laid  in  our  petty  hamlet  on  the  Sangamon 
and  is  now  hatching  out  after  so  long  a  brooding 
time.  I  am  starting  to  surmise  that  Providence 
is  continually  passing  down  time  in  this  unob 
trusive  way. 

Lady  Eulalia. 

Look !  yonder  the  two  are  coming  from  the  Doc 
tor  's  office — one  in  gray,  the  other  in  blue.  They 


AT   THE   RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  337 

do  not  step  together  in  time,  still  they  do  not  fly 
asunder.  Palmetto  looks  resigned  like  the  rest 
of  our  people ;  yet  he  shows  a  protest  against  his 
own  resignation.  Poor  man!  think  what  a  train 
ing  in  pessimism  he  has  had!  And  now  he  has 
to  face  the  person  whom  he  deems  the  victorious 
instrument  of  all  his  great  disappointments,  ama 
tory  and  national.  And  still  he  is  the  author  of 
himself.  But  now  he  is  on  hand  to  speak  in  his 
own  right. 

Lincoln. 

Doctor  Palmetto,  you  certainly  will  allow  me  to 
give  you  a  hearty  handshake  in  Western  fashion. 
It  has  been  a  long  time  since  we  met  last.  Tell 
us  something  of  your  life  since  ancient  days. 
You  are  a  free  man,  speak  out  what  lies  on  the  top 
of  your  heart. 

Doctor  Palmetto. 

I  shall  give  as  good  a  dose  as  I  have  in  my 
shop.  From  your  wretched  village,  I  ran  off  and 
wandered  back  to  my  dear  old  State  of  South 
Carolina.  I  did  not  like  your  saucy  North- West 
with  its  boasted  freedom  and  its  crazy  devotion 
to  the  Union.  In  Charleston  I  practiced  my  pro 
fession  among  its  people,  who  felt  the  war  coming 
on  and  were  getting  ready  to  strike  first.  The 
act  of  Secession  was  passed,  and,  of  course,  I  sup- 


338       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

ported  it  heart  and  hand.  Great  was  the  excite 
ment  in  those  days,  I  was  a  member  of  a  secret 
vigilance  committee  to  look  after  your  Northern 
spies.  We  came  very  near  seizing  and  hanging 
one  of  your  Presidential  emissaries,  who  was 
registered  at  the  hotel  under  the  name  of  Ward 
Lamon.  I  had  tackled  him  with  some  questions 
when  one  of  our  Congressmen  came  up  and  res 
cued  him,  spiriting  him  off  to  the  bar  for  some 
spirits. 

Lincoln. 

Quite  an  exploit !  I  sent  the  man  you  speak  of 
to  take  a  secret  look  into  the  affairs  down  there.  But 
what  you  say  has  just  now  a  fresh  interest.  Doc 
tor  Palmetto,  let  me  introduce  to  you  Marshal 
Ward  Lamon,  your  affable  escort  hither  a  few 
moments  since. 

Lamon. 

I  remember  you  quite  well,  and  your  part  in 
the  incident  at  the  hotel.  The  fact  is  I  got  your 
name  that  evening  before  I  left  your  city,  with 
the  feeling  that  I  might  meet  you  again  sometime, 
in  the  discharge  of  my  duties.  I  assure  you  that 
I  shall  protect  you  against  any  mob  that  may  as 
sail  you  or  try  to  string  you  up  to  a  lamp-post. 
But  enough  of  me;  we  all  wish  to  hear  of  your 
other  feats  in  those  memorable  days. 


AT   THE  RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  339 

Doctor  Palmetto. 

Marshal  Lamon  indeed!  I  had  my  suspicion  of 
you  as  I  trotted  along  at  your  side.  I  noticed 
the  outer  imprint  of  your  two  pistols  on  your 
blue  coat  But  I  am  not  afraid,  I  shall  dare  tell 
you  the  proudest  act  of  my  life.  On  that  famous 
April  day  of  1861,  the  llth  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning  twilight,  I  was  on  hand  at  my  battery 
of  guns  and  pointed  them  at  Fort  Sumter,  being 
among  the  first  to  start  cannonading  your  Major 
Anderson  and  his  garrison,  who  replied  with  ar 
tillery.  And  so  we  kept  up  firing  till  they  sur 
rendered  and  we  permitted  them  to  embark  for 
the  North.  Thus  we  struck  the  first  blow  for  se 
cession,  for  slavery,  and  for  our  Southern  nation. 
What  if  we  have  lost  them  all!  I  glory  more  in 
that  deed  than  in  any  other  of  my  life.  I  shall 
not  fail  to  celebrate  it  as  long  as  I  live,  come  what 
may.  I  can  still  see  Anderson  and  his  men,  de 
feated  and  downcast,  tumbling  into  their  boats 
after  our  great  victory. 

Lincoln. 

Doctor  Palmetto,  hold  up  your  story  for  a  mom 
ent,  to  let  me  introduce  to  you  General  Robert 
Anderson  whom  we  call  the  hero  of  Fort  Sumter. 
He  is  here  on  his  way  to  a  ceremony  of  which  you 
may  be  interested  to  learn  from  his  own  mouth. 


340      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Anderson. 

Doctor,  it  is  for  me  a  real  pleasure  to  meet  you, 
I  am  instructed  to  hear  you  so  outspoken.  Per 
mit  me,  however,  to  tell  you  that  I  am  on  my  way 
back  to  Charleston  to  take  part  in  the  celebration 
of  Sumter  day,  when  I  shall  raise  the  old  flag 
over  the  same  spot  where  I  had  to  take  it  down. 
So  you  were  one  of  my  cannonaders !  I  fired  back, 
but  I  am  glad  that  I  did  not  hurt  you.  Will  you 
not  go  along  with  me?  I  invite  you  in  all  cor 
diality  to  be  present  and  to  touch  off  your  gun 
again  in  honor  of  the  festival,  whose  purpose  is 
to  represent  the  undoing  of  what  was  then  done. 
You  see  your  act  belongs  to  the  whole  round,  the 
celebration  will  not  be  complete  without  you. 
We  intend  there  to  loop  the  first  and  last  in  a  sort 
of  emblematic  ring  embracing  all  the  events  of 
the  war.  Come ! 

Doctor  Palmetto. 

I  would  rather  cleave  open  that  whole  ring  of 
bloodshed,  and  start  the  breach  afresh.  A  small 
but  significant  prelude  of  the  conflict  I  took  a 
hand  in  only  a  few  years  before  the  war.  I  was  a 
warm  friend  and  admirer  of  Congressman  Pres 
ton  S.  Brooks.  I  assisted  in  his  re-election  after 
he  had  been  expelled  from  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives  for  his  caning  of  your  Senator  Sumner, 


AT   THE   RICHMOND   HOSPITAL.  341 

who  well  deserved  it.  In  fact  I  led  in  the  work 
of  presenting  to  him,  when  he  returned  home,  a 
new  cane  bearing  the  inscription  ''Hit  him 
again,"  which  words  were  my  suggestion.  That 
event  was  one  of  my  proudest  moments,  and  of 
South  Carolina's  too. 

Lincoln. 

Doctor  Palmetto,  let  me  introduce  to  you  the 
Honorable  Charles  Sumner,  Senator  from  Massa 
chusetts,  who  has  come  to  Richmond  to  gather 
points  for  his  approaching  legislative  work,  and 
especially  to  look  into  the  sentiments  of  the 
Southern  people  at  present.  "Well,  you  have 
furnished  him  a  sample  of  one  kind ;  but  I  cannot 
think  that  you  represent  all,  even  of  Carolina.  Now 
is  the  turn  of  the  great  orator  to  speak. 

Sumner. 

I  hold  the  contrary  opinion  to  yours,  Mr.  Presi 
dent.  We  have  just  heard  a  token  which  we  may 
well  heed.  As  for  me,  I  am  still  alive  and  at  work, 
while  my  Southern  assailant  soon  passed  beyond, 
and  the  greater  part  of  his  friends  have  followed 
since,  even  if  a  few  remain.  But  the  most  strik 
ing  retribution  is  that  South  Carolina  herself 
has  perished,  having  committed  suicide  with  the 
other  seceded  States,  all  of  which  must  go  back 


342       LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

to  the  starting  point  and  be  made  over,  if  they  are 
ever  to  live  again.  So  now,  my  vengeful  Doctor, 
let  me  inform  you  that  your  Palmetto  Common 
wealth,  which  seems  to  have  conferred  upon  you 
its  title,  is  as  dead  as  your  dear  Brooks,  and  I 
shall  see  that  it  stays  in  its  grave  till  it  does 
works  meet  for  resurrection. 

Lincoln. 

Enough  of  oratory  for  the  present.  Massa 
chusetts  and  South  Carolina  are  again  at  words, 
Webster  and  Hayne  rise  re-vivified  here  in  this 
Richmond  hospital.  Let  the  meeting  be  ad 
journed;  Lady  Eulalia,  take  with  you  home  your 
son,  my  old  friend  Graham  will  help  you;  I  shall 
here  have  to  say  good-bye  to  the  Doctor,  as  well 
as  to  the  Senator,  and  to  the  General.  Lamon, 
come  with  me  back  to  the  Capitol — soon  I  must 
be  off  for  Washington. 


XL 

The  Two  Hates. 

Lamon. 

There  you  have  it  again — another  proof  if  any 
were  needed!  Did  you  weigh  the  words  of  Cap 
tain  Lovelace  They  confirm  the  suspicion  of 
which  I  told  you  at  the  time,  that  the  attack  on 
Fort  Stedman  was  really  directed  against  the 
far  more  important  fortress,  namely  President 
Lincoln  in  person.  His  very  sleeping-room,  I  ven 
ture  to  say  was  known  to  the  assailants.  "What 
a  complicated  net- work  of  espionage  spreads  out  be 
tween  Washington  and  Richmond!  I  have  been 
burrowing  after  it  for  four  years;  no  sooner  do  I 
dig  out  and  catch  up  one  little  thread,  than  I  be 
gin  to  trace  another  in  full  operation.  Formerly 
the  danger  turned  not  much  against  you  personally, 
but  now  you  have  become  the  center  of  all  these 

(343) 


344      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

secret  machinations.  That  is  a  compliment  to  your 
new  importance,  but  it  ought  to  make  you  more 
wary  of  your  great  peril. 

Lincoln. 

My  dear  friend,  you  may  be  right,  but  I  cannot 
burden  me  with  anxiety  about  myself.  I  shall 
still  have  to  turn  that  over  to  you,  as  your  part 
of  the  business.  But  I  was  struck  with  the  other 
words  of  Captain  Lovelace,  which  indicated  his 
reconciliation  with  the  new  order.  I  hope  it 
foreshadows  the  prevailing  sentiment  of  his  class 
and  his  section.  Nor  can  I  forget  the  many 
heartfelt  associations  called  up  by  his  mother, 
the  Lady  Eulalia  Lovelace.  And  do  you  know 
that  I  took  a  brief  shiver  at  the  spooky  character 
of  the  scene,  as  if  it  were  an  assemblage  of  ghosts 
from  the  New  Salem  graveyard.  The  village  it 
self  has  long  been  dead,  but  somehow  it  still 
haunts  the  world,  and  its  disembodied  spirit  defies 
space  and  time.  Just  think !  after  so  many  years 
and  across  so  many  hundred  miles  it  lit  upon  me 
here  in  Richmond!  It  made  me  feel  that  its 
spectre  and  mine  were  deeply  affiliated,  and 
would  wander  down  the  future  and  round  the 
globe  together  as  strolling  phantoms  of  History. 

Lamon. 

I  was  never  in  the  place ;  I  met  you  afterwards 
when  you  were  riding  the  circuit  as  a  Springfield 


THE    TWO    HATES.  345 

lawyer.  But  what  most  impressed  me  in  that  inter 
view  was  the  attitude  of  Doctor  Palmetto,  the  image 
of  undying  hate ;  he  might  not  give  you  the  final 
blow,  but  he  could,  I  think,  as  physician  adminis 
ter  the  last  dose  if  it  might  be  done  in  secret. 

Lincoln. 

He  is  an  old  enemy  going  back  to  the  Sanga- 
mon;  did  you  understand  Lady  Eulalia's  allu 
sions  to  his  rivalry  in  love  and  politics?  Never 
mind  that  now;  that  story  I  may  tell  you  at  a 
more  idle  hour.  I  care  little  for  him  anyhow, 
he  is  a  spit-fire  more  amusing  than  dangerous, 
and  he  played  for  us  a  lively  scene  of  his  personal 
comedy.  But  there  was  another  man  present 
whose  equally  mad  hate  counts  against  the  future 
peace  of  the  country,  for  he  is  one  of  the  highest 
law-makers  of  the  Nation,  which  is  now  vic 
torious. 

Lamon. 

I  know  well  whom  you  mean ;  Senator  Sumner, 
who  has  thrust  himself  forward  to  be  the  supreme 
representative  of  Northern  hate  engendered  by 
the  war.  Really  he  seems  never  to  have  recovered 
from  the  assault  of  Brooks.  I  have  had  my  eye 
on  him,  especially  since  the  Senatorial  cabal  in 
which  he  was  prominent  undertook  to  snatch 
from  you  the  Presidential  right  of  government, 


346      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

which,  is  yours.  How  often  have  I  laughed  at  the 
subtle  way  in  which  you  thwarted  the  new  dic 
tatorship,  not  military,  but  civil!  Sumner  was 
one  of  the  master-spirits  in  that  conspiracy  (for 
it  was  nothing  else)  and  has  never  gotten  over 
his  defeat.  I  have  a  record  of  his  abuse  of  you, 
especially  in  private;  I  am  also  well  aware  of 
your  too  persistent  attempts  to  conciliate  his  con 
ceit.  In  vain;  he  is  an  enormous  Egotist  and 
deems  himself  the  saviour  of  the  country.  Still 
he  is  not  dangerous,  if  I  can  only  keep  you  alive, 
warding  off  the  stroke  of  both  Southern  and 
Northern  hate,  for  I  tell  you  both  exist  and  are 
at  work. 

Lincoln. 

I  know  it  and  that  is  what  begins  to  call  back  my 
departed  Vampyre.  I  name  them  the  two  Hates; 
both  are  extremes,  both  come  together  in  a  com 
mon  purpose  and  principle:  disunion.  Sumner, 
like  Davis,  shows  the  European  consciousness 
though  from  a  different  side;  the  one  has  reached 
his  goal  by  the  anti-slavery  road,  the  other  by  the 
pro-slavery  one.  Certainly  the  Union  cannot  mean 
to  them  what  it  does  to  me;  the  war  was  fought 
upon  the  doctrine  that  a  single  State  of  itself 
cannot  secede — cannot  destroy  the  Union  or  itself. 
Sumner  seems  to  hold  that  the  rebellious  States 
committed  suicide,  and  must  be  reduced  to  prov- 


THE    TWO    HATES.  347 

inces  of  the  central  government — an  un-Ameri 
can,  European  conception  which  the  Spirit  of  this 
Nation,  yea  of  this  Continent,  bids  me  transcend. 
Sumner  really  makes  secession  a  success,  and  deems 
the  Union  to  be  divided,  and  would  keep  up  the 
division.  I  tell  you,  Lamon,  he  foreshows  the  com 
ing  problem  sprung  of  the  Nation's  triumph. 

Lamon. 

The  two  sickest  men  in  that  Richmond  Hospital 
were  the  Doctor  and  the  Senator,  even  if  both  of 
them  were  sound  enough  in  body.  They  represent 
the  new  disease,  the  new  disunion,  that  of  victory 
itself.  Mr.  President,  we  have  just  visited  the 
national  hospital  of  the  time's  fresh  malady,  and 
have  witnessed  two  cases  diagnose  themselves.  Let 
me  state  my  opinion :  you  are  again  to  be  the  healer 
of  this  fresh  separation,  backed  by  our  West  which 
does  not  share  in  the  deep  dualism  of  the  old  col 
onial  States — South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts, 
Cavalier  and  Puritan,  South  and  North,  yea  Doctor 
Palmetto  and  Senator  Sumner. 

Lincoln. 

Lamon,  I  beg  you  to  keep  that  last  word  of  yours 
unspoken,  even  if  you  think  it  true.  But  what 
worries  me  is  that  the  spirit  of  haughty  domina^ 
tion,  which  we  once  ascribed  to  the  character 


348     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

of  the  slaveholder,  is  passing  to  the  North 
and  threatens  its  democratic  soul  with  a  new  sort 
of  autocracy.  It  is  the  old  story:  the  vanquished 
conquer  the  victors.  I  have  been  watching  the 
strange  irony  which  lurks  so  deeply  in  human 
events  as  well  as  in  the  human  soul;  the  greatest 
deed  and  the  greatest  man  through  victory  show 
the  tendency  to  turn  into  the  very  opposite  of 
themselves.  I  tell  you,  Lamon,  triumph  runs  the 
everlasting  danger  of  undoing  just  that  work 
which  it  has  triumphantly  done.  I  have  been 
reading  Macbeth  lately,  and  the  desperate  wrestle 
of  the  hero  with  the  Weird  Sisters ;  do  you  recollect 
the  expression  "They  met  me  in  the  day  of  suc 
cess"?  What  a  shudder  those  words  thrilled 
through  me,  since  they  start  Macbeth  on  his  career 
from  being  the  savior  of  the  State  to  being  its 
destroyer.  I  confess  to  a  similar  fear  in  the  case 
of  our  Nation,  yea  in  the  case  of  myself. 

Lamon. 

I  cannot  think  your  peril  lies  in  that  direction. 
Still  there  is  in  what  you  say  a  deep  truth  which 
I  have  had  much  cause  to  ponder.  0  friend,  you 
have  crossed  one  Fatal  Line,  and  obliterated  for 
ever  the  national  separation  between  Slave-State 
and  Free-State ;  but  I  tell  you  another  Fatal  Line 
has  arisen  with  its  new  separation:  that  drawn 


THE    TWO    HATES.  349 

between  the  two  Hates  already  witnessed.  The 
test  of  adversity  we  have  met  and  won,  but  just 
this  winning  is  a  fresh  and  harder  test,  that  of 
prosperity,  which  may  bring  in  its  turn  a  relapse 
to  the  sin  which  it  has  put  down.  Lincoln,  the  war 
is  ended  and  with  it  the  old  Fate;  but  now  you 
stand  face  to  face  with  the  new  Fate  which  is  also 
to  be  met  and  transcended — by  whom  if  not  by 
you? 

Lincoln. 

Another  task  and  perchance  longer  I  see  before 
me,  but  unbloody  I  hope.  What  gives  me  most 
faith  is  that  the  collossal  military  spirit  with  its 
millions  of  soldiers  headed  by  supreme  and  suc 
cessful  Generals  will  not  set  up  its  own  authority 
as  it  has  always  done  hitherto,  but  will  submit. 
Thereby,  Lamon,  hangs  a  recent  incident  which  I 
shall  recount  to  you  some  day,  for  of  it  you  do  not 
know. 

Lamon. 

Doubtless  so ;  still  I  can  glimpse  what  you  mean 
as  I  have  already  observed  its  traces:  you  have 
conquered  the  conquerors,  for  these,  though  in  blue 
uniform  had  also  to  be  conquered.  Another  touch 
it  is  of  that  irony  which  you  have  outlined  to  me : 
you  have  thwarted  the  victors  from  undoing  their 
victory.  I  was  not  present  at  the  act,  still  I  as 


350     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

detective  must  smell  out  everything  both  for  and 
against;  so  I  have  sleuthed  that  some  such  thing 
has  been  done,  and  you  are  its  only  possible  doer. 
Lincoln,  that  irony  which  you  have  uncovered  is 
really  the  Fate  which  you  are  now  to  meet  and 
overcome;  you  must  not  let  our  great  victory  be 
turned  into  defeat  either  through  soldier  or  civil 
ian,  through  General  or  Senator,  even  when  both 
of  them  have  no  conscious  intention  of  the  kind. 
Very  elusive  is  that  irony  and  often  makes  good 
men  its  victims ;  but  you,  I  see,  are  not  to  be  caught 
by  it.  What  a  great  lesson  I  have  learned  of  you 
during  this  little  walk ! 

Lincoln. 

Here  we  are  at  the  Capitol!  How  much  do  I 
owe  you,  0  friend,  as  my  interpreter,  as  my  medi 
ator,  mirroring  me  to  myself  that  I  may  better  see 
what  I  am.  Will  you  not  step  in  and  stay  awhile  ? 
I  have  something  still  more  intimate  to  say  to  you, 
something  which  I  confide  to  no  other  mortal.  The 
vision  of  my  love  flits  to  me  in  new  forms  more 
winning,  more  urgent  than  ever.  At  times  she 
seems  to  take  me  by  the  hand  as  if  to  lead  me  to 
the  other  side. 

Lamon. 

Not  yet,  not  yet,  I  hope  for  the  sake  of  us  all. 
I  cannot  go  with  you  further,  I  have  been  already 


THE   TWO   HATES.  351 

a  little  remiss  in  my  guard.  What  you  have  said 
only  deepens  my  duty  to  foil  the  blow  of  hate  secret 
or  open.  The  interview  to-day  has  given  a  sharp 
nudge  to  my  sense  of  responsibility.  One  or  two 
marks,  though  slight,  I  must  at  once  investigate. 
So  let  us  separate  under  good  omen. 


XII. 
The  Last  Pageant. 

Fate. 

I  am  what  the  world  calls  Fate 
And  move  it  in  might  as  its  Overlord, 
An  adamantine  Power  pitiless 
Defeating  all  outside  me 
Till  I  be  defeated. 
The  Genius  controlling  events 
And  the  man  centered  in  them, 
I  rule  till  he  may  arise  to  his  height 
And  then  control  me 
If  he  share  Primal  Love. 
Instrumenting  human  life, 
Yet  I  too  are  the  instrumented; 
Though  I  make  others  my  victims, 
Therein  mine  own  victim  am  I, 
If  the  compeller  of  me  appears; 
(352) 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  353 

My  character  gives  to  me  back  mine  own 
If  the  person  be  strong  enough 
To  turn  me  about  on  myself, 
And  make  me  undo  what  I  am. 
For  I,  Fate,  must  be  fated  at  last, 
By  mine  own  inner  decree ; 
Serving  up  to  me  rightly  mine  own, 
In  the  end  I  am  Fate  to  Fate. 

Thus  man  and  the  world  become  unfated 

Through  the  Supreme  Justiciary 

Applying  mine  own  law  to  myself, 

If  the  true  man  be  on  hand 

Able  to  think  it  and  carry  it  out, 

Possessing  what  instruments  this  instrument. 

Still  I  belong  to  the  soul  of  freedom, 

To  its  innermost  process  within  and  above ; 

I  am  first  in  the  deed, 

Then  my  doing  must  be  undone 

To  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  liberty. 

Thou,  0  Lincoln,  crossing  the  Fatal  Line, 

Transcending  my  bound, 

Didst  overcome  me  and  reach  freedom, 

Freedom  thine  and  the  Nation's. 

Thou  wert  ministered  by  a  High  Power, 

By  the  Genius  of  History, 

Who  is  himself  at  last  Love's  minister, 

Whom  thou  hast  won  and  made  thine  own 


354     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

And  who  is  the  ruler  of  me 

In  the  grand  sweep  of  the  World's  States 

Directing  me  to  its  end. 

This  is  the  Upper  President 

Who  has  come  with  thee  to  Richmond, 

Unseen,  yet  most  real, 

Conducting  thee  to  this  chair  of  new  rule 

And  making  thee  Fate-compeller. 

But  take  heed  of  my  warning's  word: 

There  are  two  Lincolns  in  one, 

The  fated  and  fateless, 

My  victor  and  yet  my  vanquished. 

Lincoln  the  universal  is  here, 

But  when  he  passes  to  Washington, 

He  parts  from  what  is  above  me 

And  drops  down  to  the  individual 

Finite  and  fateful. 

Then  thou  art  fallen  to  my  control 

When  thou  returnest  in  triumph 

To  thine  own  Capital, 

Where  my  sacrifice  thou  art  to  be. 

Frankly  I  tell  thee  my  secret, 

For  I  the  compeller,  am  too  the  compelled, 

I  cannot  hide  myself  in  thy  presence, 

But  reveal  what  I  am ; 

So  I  tell  this  on  myself  to  myself 

And  also  to  thee : 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  355 

Lincoln  the  fateless  at  Richmond, 
Lincoln  the  fated  at  the  White  House. 

Forget  not  my  power 

Even  if  thou  has  found  out  its  limit: 

I  was  the  Line,  the  Fatal  Line 

Implanted  in  the  Nation  at  birth, 

Inscribed  in  its  Law 

And  seared  on  the  soul  of  its  people 

Who  could  not  overleap  me  till  now 

When  thou,  Lincoln,  prime  leader  of  men 

Hast  surmounted  me  here; 

Easily  thee  will  follow  thy  fellow-folk, 

And  then  all  the  world. 

And  yet  in  this  single  defeat 

I,  Fate,  have  not  perished  from  Earth, 

Not  even  banned  from  thee  am  I, 

With  me  thou  still  hast  accompt, 

As  thou  yet  shalt  have  proof. 

For  I  rise  up  in  new  form 

Just  to  the  hero  who  has  put  me  down ; 

A  second  Fate  is  born  of  the  first 

Oft  sprouting  up  from  its  grave, 

More  certain,  perhaps  more  terrible 

Than  ever  before. 

This  new  Fate  must  also  be  met 

And  if  it  can  be,  thwarted ; 


356     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Even  I  may  become  a  third  Fate 

And  more,  yet  more, 

To  all  human  finitude, 

Till  at  last  the  Great  Man 

After  victories  many  over  me, 

I  clutch  at  the  turn  of  his  goal, 

And  whelm  down  to  death. 

And  the  Nation,  however  mighty, 

Even  yours  I  shall  grip  in  its  failing 

And  round  it  off  with  Time 's  period. 

Aye  the  great  World  shall  not  escape  me, 

Nor  shall  the  sun  and  stars  of  the  firmament 

Miss  of  my  final  doom. 

And  still  I  myself  am  doomed,  yea  self-doomed 

In  the  last  Presence  of  Primal  Love. 

Lincoln. 

Hark!  that  ironical  scoff 
At  all  things  created, 
Which  it  would  burn  up  to  nought 
In  its  anarchic  hate! 
And  yet  it  but  raves  in  Hell-fire 
At  its  own  utter  self-undoing. 
But  scan  the  metamorphosis ! 
Sport  of  monsters  prodigious! 
No  longer  the  hoar  form  of  Fate 
With  its  downward  look  impassive 
Of  necessity  fixed  primordial, 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  357 

But  the  grimace  of  active  revenge 

Against  all  existence 

And  the  Creator  thereof, 

As  if  had  come  the  world's  executioner, 

To  wind  up  the  universe. 

Fury,  Medusa,  Gorgon 

Stop  hissing  and  speak ! 

Put  thy  thousand-haired  tongues  together 

And  tell  what  wouldst  thou? 

Fury. 

I  shall  obey  thy  terrible  wish, 
For  it  is  also  mine  own, 
To  tongue  out  my  poison 
In  multitudinous  hisses; 
And  I  am  not  to  be  left  out  to-day 
"When  approaches  the  reckoning. 
Vengeance  is  mine,  the  all-fiended; 
It  is  not  slain  by  victory, 
But  bursts  forth  to  new  life 
From  hidden  haunts  of  old  hates 
When  war's  open  revel  in  blood  has  ceased 
Between  the  armies  arrayed. 
I,  the  Avenger  of  the  Deed  triumphant, 
Shall  sleuth  out  the  fortunate  victors 
Just  for  my  rightfulest  victims ; 
The  highest  one  of  them  all 
I  shall  choose  and  crown  for  my  sacrifice. 


358     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Lincoln,  thou  art  but  a  man 

Even  if  victorious  President, 

Simple  unit  of  flesh  and  blood 

Bounded  by  all  other  units 

Of  the  universe  entire, 

Mere  individual  lit  with  a  light 

Which  can  be  snuffed  out  at  any  moment 

Like  a  brief  taper. 

That  is  thy  limit  laid  of  Nature  herself 

Which  I  can  break  through  with  one  stab, 

And  find  thy  single  little  life-cell 

Where  lurks  thy  end-all, 

Which  is  the  goal  of  my  nature 

Bent  on  destroying  the  great. 

There  thou  hast  thine  own  Fatal  Line 

Drawn  on  thee  by  primal  Creation 

When  thou  wert  born  into  breath, 

To  exist  merely  a  living  atom. 

Thou  canst  not  bar  me  out 

With  all  thy  barriers  of  self -protection ; 

Thou  canst  not  dog  me  off 

With  all  thy  blood-hounds  of  secret  service 

Headed  by  the  big  Mastiff  Lamon, 

Who  dreams  he  can  stay  me, 

Or  perchance  slay  me. 

Thy  Fatal  Line  'tis  mine  to  strike  over, 
For  I  too  shall  come  to  thy  Crossing, 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  359 

As  thou  didst  to  that  of  thy  foes 

Whose  defeat  I  shall  wreak  in  return, 

Paying  thee  back  the  gift  thou  hast  given 

However  great,  good,  and  just. 

Me,  the  Fury  of  finite  existence — 

I  dare  thee  try  to  escape  me; 

Invoke  if  thou  wilt,  thy  Maker  original 

To  dip  thee  afresh  in  his  fountain 

Of  primordial  genesis 

To  re-create  thee  deathless — 

Thou  canst  not  wipe  out  thy  bodied  boundary 

Stamped  upon  all  individuation 

That  it  first  get  to  exist; 

Just  there  I  shall  nip  thee,  0  Lincoln, 

And  turn  thee  over  to  death 

Through  thy  being  alive. 

I  seem  to  speak  singly  as  one, 

Still  I  am  really  many 

As  these  snakes  of  Gorgonian  hair 

Which  dart  on  their  enemy  common, 

Yet  also  will  rear  and  bite  one  another 

In  mutual  venom  of  envy 

Undreading  themselves. 

Such  is  our  deepest  self-confession 
Mirroring  what  we  are  in  the  deed 
When  vengeance  turns  back  on  itself 
In  reciprocal  slaughter. 


360     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Didst  thou  not  see  two  of  us  Furies 

In  the  two.  Hates  rising  and  hissing 

Around  thee  and  at  thee  secretly, 

Yet  at  each  other  openly 

When  thou  didst  visit  the  Hospital — 

The  two  mad  spit-fires  of  words  red-hot, 

The  Southern  and  Northern? 

From  these  two  are  born  thousands 

Paired  in  mutual  hostility, 

Begetting  their  like  with  Hell's  fecundity, 

As  fruitful  as  the  head  of  old  Hydra 

Is  of  its  serpentine  multitude. 

Thus  we  Furies  are  ever  re-born 

Out  of  very  finitude ; 

Nature  bore  us  at  her  first  separation 

From  the  All  into  individuals, 

And  Man  in  imitation 

Perpetually  begets  the  Fury, 

Aye  two  Furies,  and  soon  a  million, 

Who  then  turn  in  vengeance  upon  him, 

With  penalty  due  for  our  birth. 

I  am  a  lover  of  blood  for  its  own  sake ; 
How  dear  to  my  eyesight  it  spurts  upward 
Heralding  mortality 
When  I  hit  the  right  blow  to  the  heart! 
We  would  destroy  mankind  traceless 
Were  it  not  that  we  hate  one  another 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  361 

In  our  universal  hate, 

And  the  Fury  becomes  the  deadly  Fury 

Just  to  the  Fury. 

And  so  the  Avenger  at  last 

Avenges  even  his  own  vengeance, 

And  destruction  wheels  about 

To  destroy  the  Destroyer  through  his  own. 

And  still  I  the  Fury  despite  myself 

Cannot  die  altogether; 

Lincoln  thou  has  undone  me  in  one  form 

As  thy  Nation 's  Fury,  and  for  one  time ; 

But  I  still  survive, 

Yea,  I  proclaim  me  immortal 

As  thy  Personality's  Fury. 

Thou  has  wiped  out  division  from  the  Union, 

But  not  the  ultimate  division 

Of  thyself  from  thy  Creator, 

To  whom  thou  art  to  return  for  judgment — 

The  meed  of  all  individuality. 

There  I  shall  smite  thee  at  last 

Lowering  over  thee  even  here 

With  my  doomful  forecast; 

I  the  personal  Fury  begotten 

Twofold  of  this  ensanguined  strife 

Shall  waylay  thee  from  one  side  or  the  other, 

Northern  or  Southern, 

And  let  thy  blood  to  its  last  gurgle 


360     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Didst  thou  not  see  two  of  us  Furies 

In  the  two.  Hates  rising  and  hissing 

Around  thee  and  at  thee  secretly, 

Yet  at  each  other  openly 

When  thou  didst  visit  the  Hospital — 

The  two  mad  spit-fires  of  words  red-hot, 

The  Southern  and  Northern? 

From  these  two  are  born  thousands 

Paired  in  mutual  hostility, 

Begetting  their  like  with  Hell's  fecundity, 

As  fruitful  as  the  head  of  old  Hydra 

Is  of  its  serpentine  multitude. 

Thus  we  Furies  are  ever  re-born 

Out  of  very  finitude ; 

Nature  bore  us  at  her  first  separation 

From  the  All  into  individuals, 

And  Man  in  imitation 

Perpetually  begets  the  Fury, 

Aye  two  Furies,  and  soon  a  million, 

Who  then  turn  in  vengeance  upon  him, 

With  penalty  due  for  our  birth. 

I  am  a  lover  of  blood  for  its  own  sake ; 
How  dear  to  my  eyesight  it  spurts  upward 
Heralding  mortality 
When  I  hit  the  right  blow  to  the  heart! 
We  would  destroy  mankind  traceless 
Were  it  not  that  we  hate  one  another 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  351 

In  our  universal  hate, 

And  the  Fury  becomes  the  deadly  Fury 

Just  to  the  Fury. 

And  so  the  Avenger  at  last 

Avenges  even  his  own  vengeance, 

And  destruction  wheels  about 

To  destroy  the  Destroyer  through  his  own. 

And  still  I  the  Fury  despite  myself 

Cannot  die  altogether; 

Lincoln  thou  has  undone  me  in  one  form 

As  thy  Nation 's  Fury,  and  for  one  time ; 

But  I  still  survive, 

Yea,  I  proclaim  me  immortal 

As  thy  Personality's  Fury. 

Thou  has  wiped  out  division  from  the  Union, 

But  not  the  ultimate  division 

Of  thyself  from  thy  Creator, 

To  whom  thou  art  to  return  for  judgment — 

The  meed  of  all  individuality. 

There  I  shall  smite  thee  at  last 

Lowering  over  thee  even  here 

"With  my  doomful  forecast; 

I  the  personal  Fury  begotten 

Twofold  of  this  ensanguined  strife 

Shall  waylay  thee  from  one  side  or  the  other, 

Northern  or  Southern, 

And  let  thy  blood  to  its  last  gurgle 


362      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Over  which  I  gloat  in  advance. 

For  thou  art  mortal  only, 

But  I  immortal 

Lie  crouching  in  all  finitude 

Which  I  must  fray  out  and  bray  out  to  its  end 

Even  through  aeons  of  Time. 

So  in  thy  life's  very  limit  of  life 

I  lurk  now  awaiting  the  moment 

To  bring  me  my  instrument 

For  doing  the  nameless  deed. 

And  yet  I  confess  me  my  suicide, 

Being  mine  own  self-def eater ; 

I  am  the  Fury  of  the  tragedy, 

But  also  the  tragedy  of  the  Fury, 

Becoming  mine  own  deadly  counterstroke. 

For  a  Mightier  compels  me  the  created 

To  damn  and  destroy  the  created 

Because  it  is  the  created, 

And  so  I  belong  in  the  round  of  creation. 

Hence  I  must  hate  myself  first, 

By  Love 's  own  decree  instrumenting  me 

Underneath  my  Hate  universal 

Which  whelms  me  upon  myself 

That  I  unhate  mine  own  very  Hate, 

And  reveal  Her  who  is  the  supernal. 

Though  I  hate  all  Love, 

And  even  the  Love  of  myself  I  hate, 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  363 

Still  I  am  ever  unmaking  myself 
And  making  appear  mine  other, 
The  Love  which  is  thine,  0  Lincoln. 

See,  yonder  she  comes  in  the  distance, 

Her  eyes  of  grace  peeping  out  of  the  clouds ! 

O  Devildom,  protect  me  from  her  look 

Whose  loving  compassion  burns  me  in  brimstone 

Dipping  me  into  your  Hell! 

Meseems  I  am  turning  inside  out 

To  pageant  the  Fury's  transformation 

As  I  vanish. 

Lincoln. 

Chimaera,  depart ! 
Fiend  of  earthly  horrors  combined ! 
Headsman  of  God's  jail 
Which  prisons  all  finitude, 
Belaboring  us  with  thy  curse ! 
Executioner  of  poor  mortality, 
So  thou  too  risest  before  me 
Here  on  this  Capitol  fallen, 
As  if  to  transform  me  to  feelingless  rock. 
But  I  defy  thee — thou  canst  not  touch 
My  possession  of  selfhood. 
Yea,  I  hail  thee  as  welcome, 
For  even  to  Hate  I  am  hateless ; 
Bear  every  addered  hair  from  thy  head 
And  hiss  at  me  its  venom, 


364     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Let  thy  visage  grimace  all  Inferno, 

Thou,  0  Medusa,  canst  not  chill  me  to  stone, 

As  thou  didst  the  old  Greek 

And  all  of  his  world  till  to-day. 

Thy  whole  nest  of  venomous  rattlers 

Begotten  of  this  war  of  brothers 

I  shall  meet  with  my  charity, 

ThougH  thou  slay  me,  and  thou  canst, 

And  perchance  must. 

But  see !  a  new  act  of  this  goblined  drama ! 

Each  Fury  begins  to  snap  the  other 

Twinned  in  a  frenzy  coiling  together ! 

Look  again !    Each  is  now  biting  itself 

In  hottest  wrath  at  its  body 

As  if  its  own  self -avenger ! 

Oh  behold!  they  droop,  they  vanish 

Stung  to  mutual  death. 

One  Fury  remains  quite  alone 

The  original  spokesman, 

But  it  too  turns  away  its  contorted  scowl, 

Frighted  by  its  own  frightfulness, 

Image  of  terror  itself  terrified, 

And  starts  to  flit  out  of  view 

At  a  new  Presence  approaching 

Which  has  the  power  to  ban  it, 

Yea  to  transmute  it. 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  3(55 

Another  Semblance — the  opposite — 
Bearing  the  visage  of  Heaven's  peace : 
Who  can  it  be,  and  whence  I  wonder  ? 
Hist !  she  looks  her  evangel, 
And  her  lips  move,  voicing  it. 
Ha !  I  recognize  thee  now — 'tis  thine, 
That  tender  glance  of  God  the  eternal ! 
My  first  Love  in  person  returning  thou  art, 
That  thou  see  me  and  speak  me  once  more; 
Let  me  hear  thy  sweet  accent  again, 
Give  me  to  list  to  thy  promise 
And  I  shall  go  with  thee. 

Love. 

I  come  to  drive  out  of  thy  vision 

The  ugly  monster  of  Hate 

Ever  begetting  itself  anew 

From  the  conflicts  of  Time. 

With  my  spirit,  I  hasten  to  help  thee 

As  I  have  often  hitherto  done, 

Though  never  before  have  I  bespoken 

Thy  presence  with  human  words, 

And  this  once  is  to  be  my  last. 

I  take  now  the  form  of  the  maidenly  grace 

Which  thou  knewest  so  well  in  thy  youth, 

And  which  has  lived  all  thy  days 

And  still  lives  to-day  in  thy  heart 

As  reconciler,  consoler,  lover, 


368     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Thy  Double,  hitherto  shadowy,  speechless, 

Is  subtly  sharing  thy  vigor, 

So  closely  you  both  interlive  just  now ; 

See!  he  is  gifted  with  the  power  of  words 

As  never  before; 

Let  me  go  and  invoke  him  and  send  him, 

For  I  know  he  has  something  to  say. 

Lincoln. 

Stay,  my  heart's  fondest  image, 

Thee  I  long  for  alone ! 

How  oft  in  the  midst  of  my  sorest  trials 

Hast  thou  risen  and  stood  at  my  side 

To  be  my  one  upbearer  of  hope, 

0  gracious  Presence  of  Love ! 

My  heart  will  throb  out  of  my  bosom 

At  the  sound  of  thy  maidenly  voice 

With  the  musical  turn  of  its  tones ; 

Methinks  I  hear  it  again 

At  the  sweetest  fall  of  its  Yes 

Under  the  mulberry  tree 

Smiling  down  on  us  its  flowers  and  foliage 

With  blessings  unspoken. 

Over  my  life  thou  hast  hovered, 

And  with  me  hast  come  a  guardian  spirit 

To  dwell  in  the  White  House, 

And  now  thou  hast  followed  me  hither 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  369 

To  this  last  seat  of  my  triumph. — 
On  Richmond's  Capitol. 

Here  too  I  feel  thy  function  supernal ; 

Thine  it  is  to  reclaim  my  soul 

From  the  scourging  look  of  the  Fury, 

Banning  the  demon  of  Hate 

By  thy  all-conquering  presence; 

To  thee  tell  I  my  soul 's  last  confession : 

I  long  to  let  drop  this  wall  of  flesh, 

Which  still  separates  my  part 

From  thee,  Ann  Rutlege, 

That  we  become  one  in  Love  forever. 

Hark !  I  hear  my  call  for  departure, 

I  must  now  quit  Richmond 

And  its  old-new  Capitol 

Where  has  concentrated  to  one  brief  point 

All  my  deeds  of  brain  and  hand  and  heart 

In  a  rapid  panorama. 

Speak  again,  I  beseech  thee, 

Tell  me — but  she  is  gone, 

And  I  must  be  off  to  Washington. 

But  my  uplifting  presentiment 

Forecasts  me  vividly 

That  I  shall  there  pass  over  the  bourne, 

To  where  soul  is  united  to  soul. 

But  just  as  I  turn  down  the  steps 


370     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Another  semblance  starts  up  and  stops  with  me 
Well  do  I  know  thee,  my  ancient  familiar ; 
Now  word  me  thyself,  if  thou  canst. 

Lincoln's  Double. 

Greetings  to  thee,  Abraham  Lincoln, 
From  me,  thy  Self's  right  Semblable, 
Foreshow  of  thy  resurrection, 
Talking  across  thy  body's  curtain! 
Never  before  have  I  said  thee  a  word 
Not  having  the  power  to  voice  myself 
In  the  days  foregone; 
But  now  thou  hast  drawn  so  near  me, 
Aye,  art  so  at  one  with  me 
Imbreathing  my  very  ghost, 
That  I  may  faintly  syllable  speech 
Through  thy  veil  of  flesh  which  is  mine  too, 
In  defiance  of  man's  fated  limit 
Between  the  Here  and  Beyond. 

Hitherto  thou  hast  done  all  the  talking, 

But  now  my  turn  it  is  at  last  to  say — 

Just  to  say  the  last  word. 

Oft  have  I  appeared  to  thee  aforetime 

During  youth,  manhood,  Presidency, 

But  my  lips  were  never  unsealed  till  now, 

That  I,  the  immortal, 

Could  lip  mortality  in  its  own  speech 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  371 

As  I  now  do  to  thee. 

Let  me  tell  thee  my  mystery 

Which,  is  also  thine ; 

I  came  hither  sundered  from  thee 

By  thy  life's  greatest  sorrow, 

Born  of  thy  love  for  woman 

From  whom  thy  soul  would  not  separate, 

Whose  death  made  no  parting 

Through  the  presence  of  me,  thy  Double, 

Passing  with  her  beyond. 

Thus  I  breach  thy  wall  of  finitude 

Which  was  also  mine  own, 

Upreared  between  me  on  this  side 

And  thee  on  that  side. 

This  is  thy  Fatal  Line  personal 

And  it  is  likewise  mine 

Which  neither  as  yet  can  transcend. 

Each  of  us  is  but  a  shadow 

I  of  the  ghost-world, 

Thou  of  the  sense-world, 

Till  we  become  one,  each  in  the  other, 

Attaining  the  Self's  true  reality, 

Overcoming  our  long  separation, 

Uniting  our  Here  and  Beyond 

In  the  eternal  Now. 

So,  my  Lincoln,  thou  must  pass  out  of  life, 

And  live  forever; 


372      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

When  thou  art  gone  from  thy  people 
Thou  shalt  be  their  lasting  Presence ; 
Death  cannot  touch  thee  there, 
Though  thy  master  and  slayer  here; 
Thy  deed  makes  thee  omnipresent 
Sovereign  spaceless  and  timeless 
Over  the  two  worlds,  outer  and  inner, 
God's  true  Double. 

In  thy  dying  thou  shalt  undeath  Death 

Letting  him  do  to  himself  his  own  deed; 

Come  over  to  me,  0  Lincoln 

And  render  thyself  the  arisen, 

For  thou  hast  made  of  thyself 

Thine  own  resurrection; 

Come  over  to  me,  0  Lincoln, 

Redeeming  thyself  whole  of  Life  and  Death. 

Of  Earth  and  Heaven,  of  thee  and  me. 

Chorus. 

Come  over  to  me,  0  Lincoln ; 
In  thy  dying  undeath  shalt  thou  Death, 
Making  him  undo  what  he  is ; 
And  thou  shalt  render  thyself  the  arisen, 
For  thou  hast  made  thee 
Thine  own  resurrection, 
Filling  it  with  the  fullness  of  fact 
Through  thy  living  career. 


THE  LAST  PAGEANT.  373 

Come  over  to  me,  0  Lincoln, 
That  thou  be  resurrected  eternal 
Not  only  for  once  on  a  time 
But  every  day  and  forever 
Out  of  the  hearts  of  thy  people 
And  aye  of  the  ages 
Thus  winning  thy  Godlikeness 
Before  the  All-Soul  sempiternal. 

Come  over  to  me,  0  Lincoln, 

But  thou  dost  hesitate ! 

So  hearken  thy  loftiest  fulfilment 

Just  in  the  Hereafter : 

There  thou  shalt  love  still  and  yet  more, 

Thou  shalt  find  thy  first  Love  ever  present, 

Renewing  in  thousandfold  forms, 

Modeling  humanity  after  it ; 

Yea,  thou  shalt  be  Love  itself  in  itself 

Living  its  life  ideal  as  thine  own 

And  for  man. 


374     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND—PART  THIRD. 


Historic  intimations, 

The  visit  of  Lincoln  at  General  Grant's  head 
quarters  on  the  James  was  not  without  a  far- 
reaching  purpose.  It  was  so  timed  that  the  Presi 
dent  should  participate  in  the  final  act  of  the  war. 
Moreover  it  was  the  last  important  episode  of  his 
life,  the  real  conclusion  of  his  career.  It  is  true 
that  he  returned  to  Washington  afterwards  but 
only  to  live  a  few  days,  which  were  not  of  any 
special  significance.  One  feels  surprised  at  the 
weightiness  and  the  rapidity  of  the  events  which 
begin  to  start  forward  from  Lincoln's  arrival  at 
City  Point,  and  never  stop  till  the  great  struggle 
winds  up  in  peace.  There  is  no  doubt  that  he  had 
the  deepest,  even  if  largely  secret  reasons  for  being 
present  at  this  culminating  stroke  of  the  conflict. 
He,  the  supreme  civil  functionary,  deemed  that 
he  should  not  be  absent  from  the  supreme  military 
achievement  of  the  war. 

Accordingly  on  the  little  steamer,  Eiver  Queen 
with  his  wife  and  younger  son,  Lincoln  sets  out 
for  City  Point,  March  22nd,  1865.  His  bio 
graphers  (Nicolay  and  Hay)  say  for  " relaxation, " 
but  probably  it  was  the  most  tense  and  stren 
uous  stretch  of  his  whole  life,  lasting  some  nine 


HISTORIC  INTIMATIONS.  375 

or  ten  days  after  his  arrival,  with  activities  outer 
and  inner  driving  him  with  increasing  momentum 
till  the  end  of  the  visit. 

Part  First,  p.  19.  The  battle  of  Fort  Stedman 
began  March  25th  at  half  past  four  in  the  morning 
by  a  sharp  attack  on  the  Federal  outposts.  On 
the  Confederate  side  the  plan  of  battle  was  en 
trusted  to  General  John  B.  Gordon,  whose  some 
what  recent  book  (Reminiscences  of  the  Civil  War) 
gives  a  detailed  account.  At  first  successful,  the 
assault  ended  in  serious  defeat  for  the  assailants. 
The  fight  must  have  taken  place  only  a  few  hours 
after  Lincoln's  boat  had  reached  City  Point,  which 
was  not  far  from  the  scene  of  the  conflict.  Gordon 
does  not  directly  say  that  Lincoln's  arrival  was 
known  to  the  Confederates,  but  as  Lee  knew 
through  his  spies  what  Grant  had  for  dinner  not 
long  after  it  had  been  eaten  (p.  392)  he  must  have 
been  aware  of  the  far  more  important  and  public 
matter  of  the  President's  visit.  It  is  interesting 
to  note  that  Gordon,  on  being  asked  by  Lee  to  give 
his  view  of  the  situation,  advised  first  of  all, ' '  Make 
the  best  terms  possible  with  the  enemy."  He  also 
states  that  Lee  agreed  with  him  but  that  Davis 
would  not  listen  to  any  such  proposition.  Hence 
the  last  despairing  assault  on  the  Federal  line. 

P.  35.   Grant  has  given  with  some  fullness  in  his 
Memoirs  the  reasons  why  he  kept  Sherman's  army 


376     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

away  from  Richmond.  But  one  cannot  help  think 
ing  that  he  does  not  mention  his  strongest  motive. 
Lincoln  was  at  first  surprised  at  this  sudden  change 
of  plan,  but  he  finally  accepted  it,  evidently  with 
approval.  Why?  Doubtless  he  had  very  different 
grounds  from  those  of  Grant,  but  he  kept  them 
hid.  Lincoln's  secrecy  though  coupled  with  an 
open,  confiding  attitude,  has  been  celebrated  by 
numerous  close  observers  and  profound  students 
of  his  character.  It  may  be  questioned  if  we  can 
ever  catch  his  deepest  motives  on  the  surface  of  his 
words. 

P.  65.  That  Sheridan  was  wheeling  around 
toward  City  Point  from  his  attempt  on  Lynchburg, 
and  would  soon  be  united  with  Grant,  must  have 
been  known  at  Washington  before  Lincoln  started. 
It  was  also  known  that  Sherman  would  come  up 
from  North  Carolina  and  reach  Grant's  head 
quarters  about  the  same  time.  During  three  days, 
March  26,  27,  28,  the  three  chief  Generals  of  the 
Federal  army  were  hovering  around  the  President 
as  center,  conversing  upon  campaigns,  talking  of 
the  future  and  past,  holding  reviews  and  even  visit 
ing  soldiers  at  their  campfires.  On  the  26th,  Grant 
took  Sheridan  to  see  Lincoln,  and  announced  that 
Sherman  would  soon  arrive  (Sheridan,  Memoirs 
II,  131) .  Sheridan  also  was  eager  to  have  the  army 
of  the  Potomac  wind  up  this  last  campaign  by  it- 


HISTORIC  INTIMATIONS.  377 

self,  and  was  unwilling  to  go  to  Sherman,  as  was 
the  original  plan. 

The  three  Generals  have  given  us  their  records 
of  this  visit  with  one  another  and  with  the  Presi 
dent  in  their  respective  Memoirs.  On  the  whole 
their  notes  of  the  occasion  are  meagre,  though  im 
portant  as  far  as  they  go.  But  what  were  Lincoln's 
inmost  thoughts  during  these  three  days?  No  ac 
count  of  them  has  been  transmitted,  but  he  must 
have  been  watching  his  own  side  as  carefully  as 
that  of  the  enemy. 

He  was  no  doubt  very  sensitive  to  the  danger  of 
a  military  dictatorship.  He  had  already  had  a 
good  deal  of  unhappy  experience  with  McClellan 
and  Fremont  in  the  early  part  of  his  administra 
tion,  both  of  whom  were  decidedly  inclined  to  dic 
tate,  if  not  to  usurp  political  functions  of  govern 
ment  (See  Lincoln  in  the  White  House  p.  179,  etc.). 
Then  the  opposition  party  and  its  press  never 
failed  to  keep  before  the  public  mind  the  peril  of 
a  military  usurper — one  of  the  redeeming  qualities 
of  a  free-speaking  minority. 

We  can  well  imagine  that  Lincoln  kept  his 
thoughts  hid  in  regard  to  such  a  topic.  Still  on 
a  memorable  occasion  they  burst  forth  with  no 
little  strength.  Lee  had  proposed  a  military  con 
vention  made  up  of  himself  and  Grant,  "as  a  satis 
factory  adjustment  of  the  present  unhappy  diffi- 


378     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

culties."  Grant  transmitted  the  proposal  to 
Washington.  The  Secretary  of  War  handed  it  to 
Lincoln,  "who  read  it  in  silence.  He  asked  no  ad 
vice  or  suggestion  from  anyone  about  him,  but  tak 
ing  a  pen,  wrote  with  his  usual  slowness  and  de 
cision  a  dispatch,  which  he  showed  to  Seward  and 
then  handed  to  Stanton  to  be  signed,  dated  and 
sent"  (Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  Vol.  X,  p.  157- 
8 ;  one  of  these  authors  seems  to  have  been  an  eye 
witness). 

This  very  significant  dispatch,  which  must  be 
read  not  only  on  the  surface,  but  under  the  sur 
face  and  even  above  the  surface,  runs  as  follows : 

"The  President  wishes  me  to  say  that  he  wishes 
you  to  have  no  conference  with  General  Lee  unless 
it  be  for  the  capitulation  of  General  Lee's  army, 
or  on  some  minor  or  purely  military  matter.  He 
desires  me  to  say  that  you  are  not  to  decide,  dis 
cuss  or  confer  upon  any  political  questions.  Such 
questions  the  President  holds  in  his  own  hands,  and 
will  submit  them  to  no  military  conferences  or 
conventions.  Meanwhile  you  are  to  press  to  the 
utmost  your  military  advantages." 

Noteworthy  is  the  fact  that  this  dispatch  is  dated 
March  3rd,  only  nineteen  days  before  Lincoln  set 
out  on  his  trip  to  the  James,  where  he  had  come  to 
think  his  personal  presence  would  be  sorely  needed. 

P.  131.     The  Confederate  line  of  battle  in  the 


HISTORIC  INTIMATIONS.  379 

East  was  broken  for  the  first  time  permanently 
from  Petersburg  to  Five  Forks,  through  Sheri 
dan's  great  victory  at  the  latter  place.  Lincoln 
was  at  this  line  before  Petersburg,  passed  over  it 
in  company  with  Grant.  The  Fatal  Line,  which 
had  been  so  indelibly  printed  on  his  mind  for  four 
years  was  now  really  transcended. 

P.  137.  In  this  last  campaign  the  contrast  be 
tween  Sheridan  and  Meade  is  of  the  sharpest,  and 
they  may  well  stand  as  representatives  of  the  two 
diverse  characters  noticeable  in  the  Western  and 
Eastern  armies.  Recently  has  been  published 
"The  Life  and  Letters"  of  General  Meade;  it  is 
curious  to  see  how  completely  he  ignores  Sheri 
dan's  victories  in  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and 
around  Richmond.  Compare  on  the  same  topics 
the  respective  accounts  of  Grant  and  Sheridan  in 
their  Memoirs. 

There  was  an  undercurrent  of  anxiety  in  the 
cabinet  as  to  what  these  military  heroes  might  dare 
in  a  political  emergency ;  and  throughout  the  coun 
try  there  was  some  solicitude  mingled  with  the  joy 
of  triumph.  Lincoln  certainly  felt  the  possibilities 
of  the  military  character.  Secretary  Welles  notes 
in  his  diary  about  this  time :  * '  The  President  has 
been  apprehensive  that  our  military  men  are  not 
solicitous  to  close  hostilities"  (II,  269). 

Part  Second  p.  172.    When  Lincoln  heard  that 


380     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Richmond  had  been  evacuated,  he  said  at  once  that 
he  must  hurry  to  the  Confederate  Capital  in  per 
son.  The  river  offered  the  most  feasible  way,  but 
this  was  regarded  as  very  dangerous.  Still  he  per 
sisted.  A  little  fleet  was  gotten  together,  which 
steamed  up  the  James,  with  every  precaution 
against  unseen  peril.  Some  twenty-eight  or  thirty 
miles  up  the  stream  was  the  so-called  Drewry's 
Bluff  where  was  a  row  of  piles  obstructing  the 
channel  except  a  small  opening  which  could  be 
easily  closed.  In  fact  it  was  already  closed  by  a 
boat  which  had  through  some  accident  swung 
across  the  aperture  and  was  held  fast  by  the  cur 
rent.  The  result  was  that  the  flotilla  could  pro 
ceed  no  further  till  the  obstruction  was  removed, 
which  would  have  cost  some  hours.  But  Lincoln 
was  in  a  mood  which  could  brook  no  delay.  Several 
other  mishaps  occured  in  the  haste,  till  the  out 
come  was  that  the  President  had  to  be  rowed  in 
a  barge  by  twelve  sailors  the  rest  of  the  way  to 
Richmond.  The  party  landed  within  a  block  of 
Libby  Prison;  there  was  no  sign  of  escort  or  pro 
tection,  though  the  Union  soldiery  was  already  in 
possession  of  the  city,  and  a  guard  might  have  been 
sent  for. 

But  the  President  would  not  wait.  He  insisted 
upon  marching  straight  for  Capitol  Square, 
guarded  by  ten  sailors  and  four  officers  who  had 


HISTORIC  INTIMATIONS.  381 

accompanied  him;  the  distance  was  estimated  at 
a  mile  and  a  half.  Meanwhile  many  negroes  and 
some  whites  began  to  gather  round  the  little  group 
with  bold  demonstrations  which  made  the  march 
very  f  atigueing,  since  the  President  was  soon  recog 
nized,  being  probably  the  best  known  and  indeed 
most  individual  figure  in  the  country  through 
his  stature,  his  face,  and  even  his  hat  and 
clothes.  At  last  the  party  arrived  safely  at 
the  headquarters  of  the  Federal  Command 
ant,  General  Weitzel,  taking  some  rest  and  re 
freshment.  (Several  eye-witnesses  have  left  ac 
counts  of  this  trip  of  Lincoln  to  Richmond,  dif 
fering  somewhat  in  details,  but  agreeing  in  the 
main  fact  that  Lincoln  himself  took  command  and 
pushed  by  sheer  will-power  the  enterprise  through 
to  its  successful  finish.  Foolhardy  is  the  word  used 
by  one  of  these  accompanying  officers.  The  more 
searching  inquirer  will  ask:  What  was  the  source 
of  the  furious  impetuosity  of  Lincoln  just  to  per 
form  this  act  ?  What  deep  necessity  lay  upon  him  ? 
That  indeed  is  what  the  reader  himself  must  try 
to  fathom,  since  its  outer  manifestation  is  all  we 
can  expect  from  the  eye-witnesses.) 

President  Davis  and  his  government  had  been 
gone  about  thirty-six  hours  before  the  arrival  of 
Lincoln.  April  2nd  was  Sunday  when  news  came 
to  Richmond  from  General  Lee:  "My  lines  are 


382      LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

broken  in  three  places.  Richmond  must  be  evacu 
ated  this  evening."  The  dispatch  was  brought  to 
Davis  at  church  and  he  at  once  obeyed  its  in 
junction  to  the  letter,  leaving  orders  to  set  fire 
to  the  government  storehouses,  arsenals,  and  also 
the  bridges;  the  war  vessels  in  the  river  were  to 
be  blown  up.  The  flames  were  borne  by  the  wind 
into  the  heart  of  the  city,  whereby  some  seven 
hundred  buildings  were  burned,  and  many  people 
rendered  homeless.  This  conflagration  could  be 
seen  by  Lincoln  as  he  was  rowed  up  the  river,  and 
it  was  not  extinguished  when  he  arrived,  though 
the  Union  soldiers  had  stopped  it  largely. 

Admiral  Porter  was  one  of  the  officers  who  ac 
companied  Lincoln  on  this  trip,  and  has  left  an 
account  of  it  (Incidents  and  Anecdotes  of  the 
Civil  War,  p.  281,  etc.)  Porter  also  tells  how  he 
shielded  the  President  from  all  sorts  of  intruders 
at  City  Point,  among  whom  was  Vice-President 
Andrew  Johnson.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Lincoln 
wished  to  be  with  himself  a  good  deal  during  his 
present  escape  from  Washington.  Porter  conjec 
tures  that  a  man  who  tried  at  night  to  get  to 
Lincoln  under  pretence  of  delivering  a  dispatch, 
was  Wilkes  Booth. 

The  most  accessible  account  of  the  external 
events  of  this  Richmond  episode  is  probably  found 
in  Nicolay  and  Hay's  Lincoln,  Vol.  X. 


HISTORIC   INTIMATIONS.  383 

P.  218.  The  President  in  a  dispatch  to  Grant 
from  City  Point,  to  which  he  had  returned,  dated 
April  6th,  remarks  by  the  way:  "I  was  at  Rich 
mond  yesterday  and  the  day  before,"  which  state 
ment  would  indicate  that  he  was  at  Richmond  two 
days  and  possibly  part  of  the  third  day. 

His  biographers  (Nicolay  &  Hay,  Vol.  X,  Chap. 
11)  fill  this  important  time  with  two  interviews 
between  the  President  and  Judge  Campbell  in  ref 
erence  to  the  return  of  Virginia  to  the  Union.  The 
whole  negotiation  ended  in  smoke,  and  it  is  evi 
dent  that  Lincoln  distrusted  both  the  policy  and 
the  men  engaged  in  it  from  the  start.  If  this  were 
the  net  result  of  his  stay  at  Richmond,  it  would 
have  to  be  pronounced  zero.  Of  what  was  going 
on  inside  Lincoln  during  this  visit  we  catch  hardly 
a  gleam  in  these  biographers,  who  evidently  had 
little  feeling  for  that  part  of  his  nature.  We  do 
indeed  hear  of  an  informal  reception  and  a  drive 
around  the  city  to  places  of  interest,  also  of  a 
visit  to  the  Capitol.  We  read  too  that  no  narra 
tive  by  an  eye-witness  "written  at  the  time"  has 
ever  appeared  (Do.  p.  220). 

It  so  happens  that  within  the  past  year  a  book 
has  been  published  (whose  preface  is  dated  1913) 
bearing  the  title  "Pickett  and  His  Men,"  by  Mrs. 
Pickett,  who  tells  of  the  visit  of  Lincoln  to  the 
old  Pickett  home  at  this  time.  Lincoln  had  known 


384     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

General  George  Pickett  when  a  boy,  and  had  been 
the  chief  means  of  his  being  sent  to  West  Point 
for  his  military  training. 

Very  graphically  Mrs.  Pickett  describes  how 
she  went  to  the  door  herself  with  her  baby  on  her 
arm,  when  she  heard  a  rap.  A  tall  man  stood  be 
fore  her,  who  said  he  was  Abraham  Lincoln. 
Whereat  she  started  back,  with  surprise  and  some 
terror,  saying:  "My  husband  is  not  here.''  Lin 
coln  gave  one  of  his  all-subduing  benevolent 
glances  with  the  remark:  "I  know  that,  I  just 
wanted  to  see  the  place."  Mrs.  Pickett 's  own 
words  should  tell  the  rest. 

"My  baby  pushed  away  from  me  and  reached 
out  his  hands  to  the  stranger,  who  took  him  in  his 
arms,  and  as  he  did  so,  an  expression  of  rapt, 
almost  divine  tenderness  came  over  his  features. 
It  was  a  look  that  I  have  never  seen  on  any  other 
face.  My  baby  opened  his  mouth  wide  and  in 
sisted  upon  giving  his  father's  friend  a  dewy  baby 
kiss.  In  my  memory  there  is  a  perpetual  abiding- 
place  for  that  wonderful  voice,  those  intensely 
human  eyes,  and  that  strong  sad  face.  As  I 
looked  at  his  honest,  earnest  features,  and  felt 
the  warm  clasp  of  his  great  strong  hand,  I  mar 
veled  no  more  that  all  who  knew  him  should  love 
him." 

Mrs.  Pickett 's  report  of  her  husband's  sorrow- 


HISTORIC  INTIMATIONS.  385 

ful  exclamation  on  hearing  of  Lincoln's  death, 
gives  a  true  forecast:  "My  God,  my  God,  the 
South  has  lost  her  best  friend  and  protector,  the 
safest  and  surest  hand  to  guide  her  through  the 
breakers  ahead.  Again  she  must  feel  the  smart  of 
fanaticism. '  ' 

The  woman  has,  in  this  account,  given  us  a 
glimpse  of  Lincoln's  Richmond  mood,  as  we  may 
call  it,  which  has  not  been  recorded  by  any  other 
eye-witness.  He  brought  his  transformation  with 
him  back  to  "Washington,  where  his  change  was 
noted  by  a  number  of  people.  Says  one  observer: 
"His  whole  appearance,  poise,  and  bearing  had 
marvelously  changed.  He  was  in  fact  transfig 
ured.  That  indescribable  sadness  which  had  pre 
viously  seemed  to  be  an  adamantine  element  of  his 
very  being  had  been  suddenly  changed  for  an 
equally  indescribable  expression  of  serene  joy,  as 
if  conscious  that  the  great  purpose  of  his  life  had 
been  achieved"  (Harlan).  At  the  last  Cabinet 
meeting  on  the  last  day  of  his  life  "he  was  more 
cheerful  and  happy  than  I  had  ever  seen  him" 
(Stanton).  To  the  same  general  purport  speaks 
Secretary  Welles  in  his  diary.  His  constitutional 
melancholy,  so  often  remarked  by  himself  and 
others  during  his  whole  life,  seems  to  have  taken 
flight. 

This  peculiar  "transfiguration"  of  Lincoln  at 


386     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

Richmond  had  also  its  note  of  premonition,  if  not 
of  preparation  for  what  was  soon  to  come.  While 
still  on  the  James  going  homeward,  he  read  too 
or  three  times  from  his  Shakespeare  the  following 
passage  with  a  tone  which  made  it  his  own: 

Duncan  is  in  his  grave, 
After  life's  fitful  fever  he  sleeps  well; 
Treason  has  done  his  worst;  nor  steel,  nor  poison, 
Malice  domestic,  foreign  levy,  nothing 
Can  touch  him  further. 

This  was  repeated  in  the  presence  of  Senator 
Sumner,  who  was  of  the  party,  and  for  whom  it 
may  have  been  secretly  intended,  since  Sumner 
as  radical  had  shown  himself  a  decided  enemy  of 
Lincoln.  To  some  bitter  remark  about  hanging 
Jeff  Davis,  Sumner  also  heard  him  reply:  " Judge 
not  lest  ye  be  judged." 

What  Lincoln  thought  of  Sumner 's  political  at 
titude  and  purpose  is  indicated  in  the  following 
citation  of  his  words:  "He  (Sumner)  hopes  to 
succeed  in  beating  the  President  so  as  to  change 
this  Government  from  its  original  form  and  make 
it  a  strong  centralized  power.  I  think  I  under 
stand  Mr.  Sumner. "  (See  Nicolay  &  Hay's  Lin 
coln,  X,  p.  85.)  It  is  stated  by  Ben  Perley  Poore 
that  Sumner  also  wished  to  be  President.  The 


HISTORIC   INTIMATIONS.  387 

reporter  records  that  Lincoln  not  long  before  his 
last  day  spoke  of  Ann  Rutledge  and  repeated  the 
poem  beginning  "0  why  should  the  spirit  of  mor 
tal  be  proud?" 

"We  owe  to  Secretary  Welles  an  account  of  Lin 
coln's  last  dream  on  the  night  before  his  last  day 
of  life,  which  dream  he  was  bold  enough  to  nar 
rate  at  a  Cabinet  meeting,  General  Grant  then 
being  present.  The  President  showed  also  his 
faith  in  what  it  prognosticated,  for  he  had  had 
similar  dreams  "preceding  the  firing  on  Sumter, 
the  battles  of  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  Gettysburg, 
Vicksburg  and  many  others."  Welles  goes  on: 
"He  said  it  was  in  my  department,  it  related  to 
the  water;  that  he  seemed  to  be  in  a  singular  and 
indescribable  vessel,  but  always  the  same,  and  that 
he  was  moving  with  great  rapidity  toward  a  dark 
and  indefinite  shore."  According  to  Welles,  Lin 
coln  interpreted  this  dream  as  meaning  another 
victory,  "and  he  was  the  least  anxious  of  us  all," 
such  was  his  faith  in  its  truth.  Johnston  had  in 
deed  surrendered,  but  there  was  no  battle,  espe 
cially  no  naval  battle,  and  so  no  victory.  So  much 
for  this  glimpse  of  his  later  inner  life,  so  little 
noticed  by  biography. 

Dr.  Holland's  Life  of  Lincoln,  however,  has 
preserved  a  very  suggestive  interview  with  New 
ton  Bateman,  which  touches  upon  Lincoln's  inner 


388     LINCOLN  AT  RICHMOND— PART  THIRD. 

life  before  reaching  the  Presidency,  and  pertains 
to  religion,  the  Bible,  a  belief  in  Divine  Provi 
dence,  the  dealings  of  God  in  History,  and  a  com 
munion  with  the  Supreme  Being  through  prayer. 
Mr.  Bateman  in  surprise  remarked:  "I  have  not 
supposed  you  are  accustomed  to  think  so  much  on 
this  class  of  subjects,  and  your  friends  generally 
are  ignorant  of  it."  Lincoln  quickly  replied:  "I 
know  they  are,  but  I  think  more  on  these  subjects 
than  all  others  and  I  have  done  so  for  years. ' ' 


BOOKS   BY  DENTON  J.  SNIDER 

PUBLISHED    BY 

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Tragedies    (new   edition) $1.50 

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Homer's   Odyssey 1.50 

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Dante's   Purgatory   and   Paradise 1.50 

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1.  Organic  Psychology. 

1.  Intellect 1.50 

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2.  Psychology  of  Philosophy. 

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5.  Psychology  of  Institutions. 

1.  Social  Institutions 1.50 

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6.  Psychology  of  History. 

1.  European  History 1.50 

2.  The  Father  of  History 1.50 

3.  The  American  Ten  Years'  War 1.50 

7.  Psychology  of  Biography. 

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2.  Frederick  Froebel 1.25 

III.  Poems — in  5  vols. 

1.  Homer   in   Chios 1.00 

2.  Delphic  Days   1.00 

3.  Agamemnon's   Daughter    1.09 

4.  Prorsus  Retrorsus 1.00 

5.  Johnny   Appleseed's   Rhymes 1.25 

IV.  The  Lincoln  Tetralogy — An  Epos. 

1.  Lincoln  in  the  Black  Hawk  War 1.50 

2.  Lincoln  and  Ann  Rutledge 1.50 

3.  Lincoln  in  the  White  House 1.50 

4.  Lincoln  at  Richmond 1.50 

V.    Kindergarten. 

1.  Commentary  on  Froebel's  Mother  Play-Songs 1.25 

2.  The  Psychology  of  Froebel's  Play-Gifts 1.25 

3.  The  Life  of  Frederick  Froebel 1.25 

VI.     Miscellaneous. 

1.  A  Walk  in  Hellas 1.25 

2.  The  Freeburgers   (a  novel) 1.25 

3.  World's    Fair    Studies 1.25 

4.  A  Tour  in  Europe 1.50 

5.  A  Writer  of  Books  in  His  Genesis 1.50 

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14  DAY  US  OWED 


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